The owner lived at 5530 Canal Boulevard and 5524 Canal Boulevard was rented out before the storm. 5524 Canal Boulevard is in the South Lakeview national historic district and is the house that the owner wants torn down. This house is an important part of the South Lakeview Historic district and it would be a tragedy if this house is demolished. There is nothing that can legally be done to save this house and most of the houses in the neighborhood are occupied or being restored so this is a good investment.
5524 Canal Boulevard (The owner wants a free city demolition for this house which was a former rental)
5530 Canal Boulevard (This house is where the owner lived before the storm,she will renovate this house)
I hust want to make a general comment about rebuilding in Lakeview. I have good friends who own a 1940s cottage that was flooded to the gutters. They did everything they could to save the house, dry out the plaster and save the architectural style of the house. But it is a small house and they have children and needed more room, so they hired an architect to draw up lans that fully incorporated the original house into a larger house, without losing the character of the original house. After hiring a contractor, the City would not give them a permit for the renovation/addition. I believe the reason was that the old part of the house violated the building code. In the end, they had to tear it down. My point is, while I agree that we should not be tearing down houses willy-nilly, there may always be extenuating circumstances beyond the control of the home owners.
This house did NOT flood to the gutters, plus this house is in a national historic district (southlakeview) and the the reason I posted this house on squanderedheritage was because Lakeview Civic Association was concerned about the demolition of this house. The owner has let this house deteriorate and she put that sign (the “Historic Homes” sign) because the neighbors were concerned about what would happen to the houses.
Randall is correct – while Lakeview has numerous older cottages and bungalows, only the area south of the railroad overpass is a National Ragister Historic District. Those homes are even older than your friends – they were build mostly in the 1920’s, some in the early 1930’s. Your friend’s example is why it is so important to preserve the Historic District – many of the 1940’s era homes are being demolished all over Lakeview; the South Lakeview Historic District may become the only surviving examples of the architecture of early Lakeview. Also, Randall is correct about the flood depth. South of the railroad overpass, the elevation rises dramatically. Many of the homes in the Historic District took on 4 feet or less inside, making them easier to restore.