Half Way House in Mid City Merits Protection

NOPSI 914 operating on the West End line.

good news on the Mid-City preservation front:

Nearly a decade after a fire badly damaged a historic but abandoned jazz landmark on the edge of Mid-City, the New Orleans Historic District Landmarks Commission has approved a nomination that grants the building protection from demolition.

The Half Way House was a very hot jazz club in the 1910s and 1920s. It gets its name because it's roughly half way on the old West End streetcar line. That line started downtown at Canal and N. Rampart, and ended out at the lake.

Interesting background note in Da Paper's story, which re-affirms my distrust of Republicans even at a local level:

In March 2002, the City Council overturned a previous nomination for status as a local historic landmark. At the time, then-Councilman Scott Shea said he was getting complaints about vagrants and the building's condition.

Given that there are no residences for blocks in that area (it's all cemeteries, railroad tracks, and I-10), that's code-word speak for "we want this gone to develop the space." Fortunately two things have changed: Scott Shea is long gone from the Council (conservatives in Lakeview burned him on a massive pyre of votes after the storm), and the site is now next to the city's 911 communications office, therefore no vagrants anymore.
The Half Way House was a very hot jazz club in the 1910s and 1920s. It gets its name because it's roughly half way on the old West End streetcar line. That line started downtown at Canal and N. Rampart, and ended out at the lake.

Interesting background note in Da Paper's story, which re-affirms my distrust of Republicans even at a local level:

In March 2002, the City Council overturned a previous nomination for status as a local historic landmark. At the time, then-Councilman Scott Shea said he was getting complaints about vagrants and the building's condition.

Given that there are no residences for blocks in that area (it's all cemeteries, railroad tracks, and I-10), that's code-word speak for "we want this gone to develop the space." Fortunately two things have changed: Scott Shea is long gone from the Council (conservatives in Lakeview burned him on a massive pyre of votes after the storm), and the site is now next to the city's 911 communications office, therefore no vagrants anymore.