I was distressed to read Professor White’s On the Record on Feb. 3. Unfortunately, his proposal to be rid of Iberville is typical of many voices, including the mayor’s commission for rebuilding, with little regard for historically significant architecture – let’s rid New Orleans of poverty by demolishing blighted neighborhoods. After all, the French Quarter, Uptown and Garden District dodged Katrina … as if they are the only neighborhoods worth preserving.
Anyone knowing anything about architecture in our city knows 18 neighborhoods are on the National Register. Bottom line: throw a rock in New Orleans and the chance of hitting something worth preserving is high. Yet many think “historic preservation” is a hobby of the idle rich. I am neither idle nor rich. Preservation is not my hobby, it is my vocation.
Katrina exposed what is ugly about New Orleans – a failing educational system, abysmal poverty and politics as usual. But throwing the baby (Iberville) out with the bath water is not the answer. Not all the folks living there were drug-dealing-murder-and-mayhem raving hoodlums. There were decent people too, who want to return, help rebuild the city they love and break free from poverty.
Perhaps Dr. White should read Plato’s “Symposium,” preferably in Greek since much gets lost in translation. Socrates teaches us to see beauty in all things. It is too bad Dr. White did not see the May 2005 issue of the The Times-Picayune publishing Louisiana Landmarks Society’s first annual list of “New Orleans Nine,” which highlighted the most endangered architectural treasures in our city. Iberville was on the list vetted by a committee of preservationists, historians and architects.
My view is shared by an organization held in high regard by architects and planners in New Orleans for its fairness and level-headedness concerning the future of historic buildings. Demolition of Iberville would be a crime against the architectural history of our city.
This is what Landmarks had to say about Iberville. When completed in 1941, it was among the first housing projects in America, hailed as an admirable example of progressive social policy and contextually appropriate design. It resulted from a nationwide effort by the Public Works Administration to clear slums and construct housing for low-income households. Iberville is colonial revival laid out in a garden-apartment plan, with two- and three-story units on tree-lined parkways. The quality of construction – brick walls, fireplaces, copper flashing, operable wood windows, cast iron galleries, red tile roofs – is enviable by today’s standards. In short, Iberville was on the cutting edge of urban design.
Dr. White proposes to perpetuate the same mistake made almost a century ago when city planners saw an opportunity to demolish Storyville. That debacle resulted in demolition of some of the most beautiful 19th century homes which exist today only in historical archives. He suggests a quasi-concentration camp like Storyville, where prostitutes were forced to live and ply their trade, regulated and controlled by the city. I assume he envisions something like that architectural abomination including Wal-Mart, in the Lower Garden District (which, by the way, has done nothing to alleviate poverty).
Dr. White, do you think, given a choice between rebuilding homes damaged by Katrina and your incubator, our artists and musicians would choose your incubator? For that matter, do you believe Athenian playwrights or Florentine artists lived in isolated neighborhoods? Do you really think confinement stimulates creative collaboration? It is my humble impression that artists and musicians are like the waters of Katrina – they will find their own level. I suggest they already have homes – admittedly in shambles – and they want to rebuild and live there. They do not want or need to be shoved into a concentrated community to collaborate and create on display like animals in a zoo.
In case you didn’t notice, Iberville barely got “scratched” during Katrina and does not need tearing down. It needs intelligent developers who see beauty beneath the blight. It needs developers willing to renovate the units for any resident who wants to return. Now is the time for Iberville residents to be home, earning a living wage while rebuilding their city. Iberville is not responsible for becoming blighted. Iberville is not responsible for the poverty existing there. Give credit where credit is due, Dr. White. Don’t blame Iberville for the neglect it has received from the government that built it, the government that should have maintained it or the government that has done nothing to break the cycle of poverty. Iberville should be a vital part of the resurrection of New Orleans.
Connie Rodriguez is an associate professor of classical studies.
