Attachments for City Hall AE_12!28!09

8/14/2019 Attachments for City Hall AE_12!28!09

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Determination of Eligibility

Section 106 Review

New Orleans City Hall

1300 Perdidio Street, New Orleans , Orleans Parish

Context

The New Orleans Civic Center, designed around an asymmetrical landscaped plaza, wasthe keystone of the 1950s master plan for the City of New Orleans that included massivemodernization of the citys infrastructure. The City Hall, the first building constructed aspart of the complex, is arguably the most important building as it was the location ofgovernance of what was intended to be the new metropolis envisioned by the new mayor.Mayor DeLesseps Story Chep Morrison, promised a decade of progress when he waselected in 1946. The construction of the Civic Center coincidentally required theelimination of what was perceived by many in the new administration as a cancerousslum that still stood along the edges of the business district. Office of the Mayor 1955-1956Annual

Report of the Mayor1956 (New Orleans, LA office of the Mayor) page 5

The Civic Center was touted as a public convenience and promised a new openness thatwas intended to be a symbol of the Morrison Administration. Its construction allowed forthe consolidation of dispersed city and state departments operating in old or obsoletebuildings. The new complex located in a central area would be modern, comfortable,efficient and easily accessible as a result of the redevelopment plan that, among otherthings, called for broad boulevards and easy parking. New Orleans, like many other citiesin the nation, was facing a gradual deterioration of its central business district. It wasexpected that the Civic Center would help preserve the central business district byattracting future development.

The concept of a Civic Center came from Brooke Duncan (after whom Duncan Plaza isnamed) who was appointed the director of the reorganized city planning division in 1946.Mayor Morrison adopted the plan as part of his administrations long range capitalimprovements policy. In 1947, $1,000,000 was added to a larger bond issue slated forthe construction of Union Passenger Terminal, the first structure to be built as part of theredevelopment plan. The additional $1,000,000 was for the acquisition of the areabounded by Old Saratoga (Loyola), Gravier, La Salle and Poydras Streets for the locationof the Civic Center. The library would ultimately be located outside the six square areaon the site formerly occupied by the old Criminal Courts Building.

New Orleans was one of many American cities that were undergoing redevelopment or

urban renewal during the 1950s, which included large scale demolition of poorerneighborhoods. In New Orleans, a deteriorated neighborhood northwest of the presentday central business district known as the Back o Town was slated for redevelopmentbeginning in the 1930s. Over many generations, the area was populated by poorimmigrants of diverse racial groups including people with French, Spanish African,Italian and German backgrounds. It was the location of gambling and prostitution housesas well as modest residences, respectable small businesses, churches and legitimateplaces of entertainment. Louis Armstrong grew up in Back o Town and it was in its

Attachment 1, Page 1 of 11Improved Project for the purchase of the Chevron buidling

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many musical establishments such as the legendary Funk Butt Hall where jazz originated.With purchase of the land for the Civic Center, the remainder Back o Town vanished.Brooke Duncan worked behind the scenes to acquire the six squares with the tax payers$1,000,000. As the buildings were demolished the property was leased to vendors forparking until construction began.

In May, 1950, the citys Commission Council authorized a loan from the federalgovernment to cover architect and design fees for the appointed three local, wellrespected architectural firms. The firms conducted a survey of the area and divided thework. In September of 1951, the architects outlined specifications for the City Hallproject but it was not until late 1954 that the property tax payers approved the sum of$7,000,000 for the City Hall project. Construction began in 1955 and commenced in1957.

The Parade of Progress to celebrate its completion was held on May 6, 1957, theeleventh anniversary of the first election of Mayor Morrison. At the banquet, Mayor

Robert Wagner of New York City was invited to give the key note address, therebypositioning New Orleans with other great American cities. In keeping with MayorMorrisons dream, Mayor Wagner called for bold steps to meet the challenges of themetropolitan age. This message was in keeping with the transformation of the urbanlandscape then taking place under Robert Moses in New York City. By the time MayorMorrison left office in 1961, the City of New Orleans Central Business District wastransformed by the Civic Center and wider streets and boulevards which linked it to therest of the city.

Architects

The architectural firms responsible for the design of the City Hall, Goldstein, Parhamand Labouisse, with Favrot, Reed, Mathes and Bergman, were local firms whosemembers where from old New Orleanian families, but the modern designs of some oftheir buildings, including City Hall, indicated they had ties beyond the south.

Like many of its peers, the firm Favrot, Reed, Mathes & Bergman (1950-1958) morphedwith younger partners following World War II and changed its name at that time. Itbegan to attract work with Modernist-influenced designs, such as the New OrleansBaptist Theological Seminary Elementary School (1952) (the first of many buildings thefirm completed on this campus); Lakeview Elementary School (1957); and publiccommissions like the Civil Courts Building (1957). Within a year of the completion ofthe Civil Courts Building, the firm split. Afterwards the firm of Mathes Bergman &Associates (1959-1973) emerged and they participated with Curtis & Davis and EdwardB. Silverstein on the design of the Rivergate Convention Center (1968) and the NewOrleans Cultural Arts Center Theater for Performing Arts (1970).

Parham & Labouisse (1947-1962), was formed out of the merger of partners from two ofNew Orleans most successful early-twentieth century firms Goldstein, Parham &Labouisse, and the surviving junior members of the architectural practice of Rathbone


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Debuys. The new firm captured a significant number of commissions in the post-waryears, including extensive work for Dillard University, Tulane University and the Times-Picayune Co. Moise Goldstein designed the American Bank and Trust CompanyBuilding (1924), located at 315-319 St. Charles Avenue which is considered to beconservatively modern. In addition, Goldstein was part of the Joint Advisory Committee

on Planning and Development of the United Nations Headquarters.

Mayor Morrisons forward looking plans for the City of New Orleans found expressionin the International Style which was a break in architectural tradition. It called forrectilinear forms, plane surfaces stripped of applied ornamentation, and open interiorspaces that tended to be functional and logical. The most commonly used materials wereglass for the faade, steel for exterior support, and reinforced concrete for the floors andinterior supports. Although the International Style dominated American architecturefrom the 1950s through the late 1970s, there are relatively few buildings in that style inNew Orleans and in Louisiana. In New Orleans, many of them are found along CanalStreet

Description of City Hall

The New Orleans City Hall is bounded by Perdido, LaSalle, Poydras Street and LoyolaBoulevard. Constructed in 1955-1957 as the first of five buildings of the Civic Center, itis situated just southwest of the New Orleans Lower Central Business District and east ofthe New Orleans Medical Historic District. Two of the five buildings in the complex, theState Office Building and the State Office Building Annex (constructed as the StateSupreme Court of Louisiana) were demolished in 2009. The Civil Courts building issituated in the southeast corner of the same block as City Hall. Across Duncan Plaza tothe north is the New Orleans City Library, the final building in the complex and it hasbeen determined eligible for the National Register of Historic Places.

The design of City Hall, including the siting of the building, is in keeping with theelements of the International Style. Rectilinear forms are used, including the rectangularmain tower, the two-story, truncated triangle attached to the east that houses the councilchambers, and the two-story office blocks on the west end. To the rear of the building is afour-story garage (two stories are under ground) with a rectangular footprint with onerounded wall. Ornamentation on the exterior is limited to the contrasting and attractivecolors of the materials (primarily green tinted glass, neutral limestone and red polishedmarble) and the textures of the grids created by the functionality of the window systems.The interior decoration is simple, and the plan is functional if not consciously designed tosymbolize the goals of the new administration.

The 11-story office building block is comprised of structural steel, reinforced concreteand hollow clay tile, and is finished in quality materials. It has granite copings, andlimestone cladding covers the base, crown and corners of the building. Green reflectiveglass sheaths the front (north) elevation of the building, and vertical aluminum louversare angled to shade the sun from the green reflective glass walls behind the louvers on therear and sides. On the front, the first floor extends out beyond the upper floors and has a


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ribbon of double hung green glass windows. On the rear, the upper floors are cantileveredover the first floor.

At the front of the building, a rounded terrazzo terrace bordered by a granite balustradehas wide shallow stairs and a center ramp leading to the recessed entrance in the center of

the building. Two large simple columns clad in polished red granite flank the four plainglass entrance doors. Over the recessed entrance clad with the same red polished graniteis a cartouche in bas relief of the City of New Orleans. Incised in the granite to the left isthe formal cornerstone information. On the right are the four crests of the nations thathave flown flags over New Orleans (United States, the Confederacy, France and Spain).The simple lobby has rounded walls that are paneled in black granite wainscoting and isopen to the second floor behind an extruded aluminum railing. At the rear of the lobbyare the elevators surrounded by a lighter marble.

The buildings interior reflected the goals of the mayors administration. It was modern,efficient and easily accessible: The services most commonly used by the public

(including obtaining marriage, birth and death certificates, and paying utility bills andtaxes) were located on the first floor. The mayor and city councilmens office were onthe second floor. The four public elevators, a number considered generous, were self-serving, and air conditioning was provided throughout the building, something that wasconsidered modern in the South at the time. The louvers blocked the sun and helped tocool the building, thereby saving taxpayers money. Despite the modern design and theoptimistic goals, the restrooms were segregated (though not obviously so as they wereunmarked) and the cafeteria was closed to African-Americans until 1963.

The siting of City Hall displays a disregard for historic precedent; it ignores the historicformal geometries in creating public spaces. Traditionally planned public spaces exhibitsymmetry and balance and were located around and along major and minor axes. Therectangular block of City Hall is sited on one of the two block areas originally plannedfor the Civic Center at a slight angle. The original path of Basin Street was established asthe main axis across Duncan Plaza and leads directly to City Halls main entrance. Thelibrary on the north side of Duncan Plaza on the corner of yet another block is locatedparallel to that axis (not on it). This is the only nod to traditional site planning. Whetherthe organization of the Civic Center buildings around Duncan Plaza has been successfulfunctionally and aesthetically is questionable, but the disregard for historic precedent istypical of Modern architecture and the International Style.

Integrity

The exterior of City Hall is highly intact. Minor alterations include the addition of theramp and the large red CITY HALL letters in red on the front of the building. InsideCity Hall, the lobby is intact. Other existing interior character defining features were notidentified because of limited access. City Hall retains integrity of location, design,materials, workmanship, and feeling. However the integrity of setting and associationhas been compromised as the Civic Center has been negatively impacted by the recentdemolition of both the State Office Building and the Office Building Annex.


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Significance

The New Orleans City Hall is eligible under Category A as it is associated with a majorand comprehensive program of urban renewal/city redevelopment in the 1950s that

changed the City of New Orleans. While the integrity of the Civic Center is called intoquestion by the demolition of two of the five buildings, the remaining buildings of thecomplex, other buildings including the Federal Post Office, Union Station and thetransportation infrastructure that are all part of the 1950s redesign of the city are stillintact. The City Hall, the first building constructed as part of the Civic Center, is arguablythe most important building of the complex as it was the location of governance of whatwas intended to be the new metropolis created by the redevelopment plan.The New Orleans City Hall is eligible under Category C as it embodies distinctivecharacteristics of the International Style.

The APE has not been assessed under Criterion D

The City Hall may be eligible under Criterion B because of its association with MayorMorrison but more research needs to be done to evaluate this.

Prepared by: Mary Neustadter, FEMA Historic SpecialistDate: 12/16/09


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U.S. Department of Homeland SecurityFederal Emergency Management Agency

Section 106 Review: Aerial View Location Map

Resource Name: New Orleans City Hall and Chevron Building

Resource Address: 1300 Perdido Street and 935 Gravier Street

Resource Coordinates: Lat: 29.9524722 NLong: -90.076550 W

Lat: 29.9528139 NLong: -90.0733667 W

Figure 1: APE for both the City Hall and the Chevron Building


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City Hall1300 Perdido Street

Front entrance

to City Hall

Curtain wall of

green-tinted

windows


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City Hall

1300 Perdido Street, New Orleans, Orleans ParishNorth (front)

elevation

North (front)

elevation.


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City Hall

1300 Perdido Street, New Orleans, Orleans ParishSouth (rear

elevation

South (rear)

elevation


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Documents

Attachments for City Hall AE_12!28!09