1. Correction: There will be 5 doubles among the replacements rather than 2.

2. i would like to tell the hcdrc members something; historic districts are not historic if half the homes are new, it doesn’t work like that, only 15 percent of the homes in new Orleans are in historic districts. we should at least save those. a demolition in a historic district represents the failure of that district unless the demolition benefits the neighborhood. Most of those demolitions are unnecessary for the neighborhood and will not improve them. The hcdrc has failed its job, period.

3. Randall, Thanks you for commenting, it is important that as many people are informed. We are working to raise awareness and your point is well taken. Seems some folks are missing a central point here, Histroy means something here.

4. Karen and Randall:

   I agree with your point that history means something here, but this house, and the neighborhood it sits in is not historic. I live on the corner of this block, and would like to set the record straight on a few things with regard to 2413 Nashville Ave.

   1) The house was flooded with approximately 3′ of water above the finished floor (the water was approximately 6′ deep in this block). The roof suffered significant wind damage so, in addition to water from below, the house recieved water from above as well. The house would literally need to be brought down to its studs and rafters, replumbed, rewired, and then raised a minimum of 4′. From an economic standpoint, renovating the house is not feasible.

   2) The house was built in the 1930’s as were most of the houses on this part of Nashville Ave. It is not particularly charachteristic of vernacular New Orleans architecture nor is the neighborhood. As I noted above, there is nothing particularly “historic” or significant about this house or about the neighborhood. Does it contribute to the streetscape? Yes. Does the neighborhood contribute to the ambiance of the city? Yes – although I would argue that the primary charachteristic of this stretch of Nashville that makes you think Uptown are the oak trees, not the houses – think of Nashville on the other side of Claiborne, the houses are very similar.

   3) The house will NOT be replaced by a vacant lot. The owners have always planed to rebuild the house and have drawings and plans of the Creole styled cottage that will replace the house. You should check to make sure you have correct information before you post it on your website.

   4) While I agree that history means something here, not everything that is old is historic. New Orleans was at the cutting edge of architecture duriing the 19th century. We’ve lived in fear of that past ever since. Cityscapes have to respect a balance of old and new and we need to be careful to strike a balance between preserving the past and impeding the life of the city. We also have to be careful to remember that we are dealing with peoples lives after a major catastorphe such as Katrina. The family that owns this home is living in rental property while continuing to pay mortgages while being caught up in bureaucracy trying to obtain demolition permit. Compare the flood maps to the development of the city. The areas of New Orleans that flooded during Katrina were not developed until after the 1920’s and 1930’s, which was when this neighborhood was developed.

   So, I’d suggest you pick your battles and limit them to those that genuinely have to do with the architectural fabric of the City of New Orleans. I’m sure that all of you would go ballistic if I submitted a demolition permit for my house at 2439 Nashville Ave (two-story, looks like a West Indies plantation with a metal roof). It looks historic, but the facade was added in 1959. Before that it looked like every other raised basement in Broadmoor.

   Robert Stickney

5. Robert, Thanks for your input on this property. Most of my information comes from HCDRC postings in the paper. I do not know Randall so I can not speak for his comments.

   I have the lsitings for private demolitions and FEMA demos, I try and drive around and see how each houses appears from the Street. From what I have seen there are many many houses in the City which need to be torn down, unfortuanatly.

   I appreciate your comments and am not trying to “pick a battle” rather document what was lost and what is about to be lost.

   I live in the area behind the fire on Pritchard Place and Carrollton, and I often wish I had taken photos of that corner, everytime I drive by it,which is daily, I try and remember what was there. Part of the aim of this website is to document the smaller less significant demilitions.

   I wish the folks well that are attempting to rebuild as I too face many of the same issues.

6. Robert, i know what your house looks like i pass by it when i pick up my sisiters at Fortier(now Lusher). its the plantation style one, it’s a really nice house and i like it. i apologize if the neighborhood is not part of an historic district. i live in lakeview and our home was clobbered with ten feet of water; we did not even have insurance. my grandmother’s home and our extended families home in pass christian were all destroyed. all the homes that i loved were destroyed. our homes had so much family history in them and now they are gone, my familys’ homes were not even new but they sill had so many memories to them. i can only imagine how many memories that are tied into homes that are many years older. robert, new orleans has lost about 1 /6 of its historic homes in the last generation. the areas where this is most evident are the tulane gravier and central city neighboorhoods where there are many vacant lots. thankfully those rich yankee collage kids will never send your neighboorhood to hell. Robert, mabye one of these days you will relize the beauty of things and hopefully you don’t have to learn it the hard way.

7. i made a mistake, my all the homes in my family were new, srry

8. I helped gut this house through a volunteer effort. All that work for naught, I suppose.

9. Pity, I have heard that the owners discovered structural damage which could only have been discovered AFTER it was gutted. having gutted a couple of houses I now know most severe damage is only discovered after the fact. Thanks

10. Did yall know robert stickney is on the bring new orleans back cultural committee. That’s scary. It may be a different robert though.

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