I ran across some of Jeff Lamb’s photos on flickr last fall, and he has some great shots of random places in New Orleans during the 70′s and 80′s.
I like this one especially, of the old D&J Sweet Shop on Louisiana.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/fej/231287486/
I got curious and went by there in December to see what had happened to the old place. Some PRC documents from a few years ago indicated that it had been closed for a long time and that somebody was trying to renovate it. Here’s what it looks like today:
It’s a lovely house, and I’m glad that they preserved the building, at least. But there’s a lot in this picture to make you sad. The corner seems lifeless now. Compared to twenty years ago, the sidewalks are cracked and broken, and the stop sign is leaning over at an angle (from Katrina’s winds, or just neglect?) And the oak canopy, although somewhat thinned due to it being winter, is definitely not what it once was.
I think that’s one of the things about post-flood New Orleans that weighs on my psyche. The light is all wrong. There is sunlight where there used to be shade. There is empty where there used to be thick green.
Think about this: there are no longer any living magnolia trees between Freret and the lake.
It’s coming back, but it will take decades before it approaches what it once was. And no amount of neighborhood meetings or grant money or community willpower or (god forbid) government leadership can make a tree grow any faster than a tree grows.
[P.S.: I'm bowing to pressure and doing the 25Peeps thing. Don't let me drop like a rock the way Karl did.]
Suckered in to playing peeps are you?
You should have posted your sushi pic. THAT would keep you on top!
You’ve been peeped, hon.
I went and clicked. I’ll keep it up from time to time (although that butt nekked fellow charging into the water was pretty tempting).
I gave you a click. And those Jeff Lamb photos are outstanding.
Karl didn’t make a big enough deal about it.
…and I’m not a babe showin’ T&A.
I’m tellin’ ya though, man-back-sushi or up-kilt, those would keep us on the page!
::girlish squeal::
Code monkey like girlish squeal.
I’m tellin’ ya though, man-back-sushi or up-kilt, those would keep us on the page!
Man, I don’t know. Man-back-sushi hits a narrow demographic. Up-kilt, on the other hand…
There are some lucky magnolias, but generally, they did not fare well. There’s a magnolia in my back yard, but all the others on my street died. http://www.flickr.com/photos/caderoux/377821155/
Man, I don’t know. Man-back-sushi hits a narrow demographic. Up-kilt, on the other hand…
Hey, man-back-sushi is one of the first memories I have of reading your blog and deciding I’d come back. So it does work.
My *click* just moved you up a space.
I always forget to do da gumbo thang. blonde eagerness…
They came by my house 3 times last week to try to get rid of the dead magnolia. Because of the power lines, they never came back.
Well, I remember the property from in the early 90′s after it had closed. The wonderful array of signs were all there, shutters, etc….But then, I suppose because someone thought it would help the property “sell”, they sprayed the entire (and I mean, entire, everything but what was left of the roof) thing white. You could just make out some of the color from the signs through the paint-they frickin’ ruined it! Eventually the paint peeled off the glass, which looked a little better. But the thing sat in a white death shroud for a few years.
When it had finally sold and was renovated, I watched the progress (I was living in the Channel then and it was on a daily route) there was not much left that had not been destroyed by termites and water from decades of the same old leaky roof. This was more than visible from the street; the thing could well have collapsed before they got to it. But…the building was saved, and that deserves more than an “at least” in my book, considering the amount of time, money (likely a lot more than they expected going in) and effort that went into it. And you would never guess that it was partially rebuilt.
you’re welcome to blog my photo here if you like, or any other you like. And while the work may seem random, it is pretty well structured to illustrate types and styles, and neighborhoods of historic 19th century architecture, random maybe but w/ prc photos an attempt to show the best un-altered examples
of historic architecture throughout parts of the city.