Already stripped of its roof and detailing, the rear wall of the Treme shotgun fell off over the weekend. Photo by Karen Gadbois.

By Karen Gadbois, The Lens staff writer |

Most have been stripped of their roofs and architectural detail. Some have had upper stories cut off in order to squeeze them under electrical wiring.

Another kind of misfortune befell one of the houses being moved — in the name of preservation — from the vast MidCity site being cleared to make room for the city’s billion-dollar medical center. Assuming it ever gets built. Over the weekend, the back wall fell off a rickety shotgun that had been plopped down in Treme.

The house stands on the recently vacant lot outlined in red.

The structure, plopped down on a stretch of St. Anne Street, hard by Claiborne Avenue and the Interstate 10 on-ramp, will be repaired, according to Andreanecia Morris spokesperson for Providence Homes, which is involved in the relocation mess.

Builders of Hope , the North Carolina-based company that has the city contract to move 71 houses from the hospital turf, has vowed that all transplants will be re-roofed and sealed against the elements by the end of this month.

One step forward. Two steps back.

Karen Gadbois co-founded The Lens. She now covers New Orleans government issues and writes about land use. With television reporter Lee Zurik she exposed widespread misuse of city recovery funds and led...