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In the 1920s and 1930s many struggling cities were seduced by the monolithic, masculine nature of Beaux-arts style government buildings. Eager to appear more European, American cities became fans of rabid slum clearance initiatives that ironically erased some of their most authentically European communities. In this trend, the Louisiana Supreme Court building was designed in 1910 by the firm Brown, Brown, and Marye of Atlanta, known for their many Beaux-arts style public buildings. The lot the New Orleans courthouse sits upon is one of the oldest in the city, and there was much public unhappiness about its expropriation in 1903 and subsequent demolition of the historic buildings. At this time, the block housed about two hundred people, mostly immigrants, and was labeled by the city as a "slum." Although the properties were deemed blighted, they were described by one writer as "the finest examples of old Creole residences in the Vieux Carre. The block included the house where Andrew Jackson drafted his plan for the Battle of New Orleans, as well as A. A. Peychaud's original pharmacy, where his famous bitters were invented. At the time there were no zoning or preservation laws in place to challenge the decision to modernize this portion of the Vieux Carre.
Despite the extravagant expense of its construction, by the 1930's the building had begun to deteriorate. In 1957 the city of New Orleans sold the building to the Department of Wildlife and Fisheries, and the Louisiana Supreme Court moved to a temporary home in the CBD. The building fell into extreme disrepair, and it became common to discover squatters in the abandoned courtrooms. Loathed by many even when it was new and shiny, the courthouse was now considered an eyesore and a menace in the French Quarter. Though the Vieux Carre Commission had at one time proposed demolition, in 1980 they decided the building was worth saving. The history and restoration of the courthouse is discussed, as well as insights into historic preservation issues adjacent to it. It remains to this day an architectural anomaly amongst the 18th and 19th century structures of the French Quarter.
Título : The Louisiana Supreme Court Building: Lessons to be Learned from a Beaux-Arts Monstrosity in the French Quarter
EAN : 9798230939337
Editorial : Nora Goddard
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