Statement by National Trust for Historic Preservation President Stephanie Meeks on Fifth Anniversary of Hurricane Katrina
Posted September 1, 2010 | Contact pr@nthp.org or 202-588-6141
September 1, 2010
Just days after Katrina struck New Orleans in 2005, then-National Trust for Historic Preservation president Richard Moe observed that the storm’s wrenching devastation was “not only a terrible human tragedy, but perhaps the greatest cultural disaster in American history." With five years perspective on Katrina’s toll on New Orleans and the Gulf Coast, Moe’s observation seems especially prescient. While enormous progress has been made and some of New Orleans’ historic neighborhoods have fully recovered, other areas continue to struggle, and large swaths of the city’s historic resources are either lost or threatened. For all of us who love the Crescent City, our work there is clearly far from over.
In the days immediately following the storm, the National Trust decided to mobilize the full extent of its resources to assist the city. In short order, we opened a field office, went to Capitol Hill to successfully advocate for tens of millions of dollars in grant funds, engaged in a media blitz to focus public attention on the need to preserve the city’s historic resources, and launched an all-out campaign to bring volunteers to the city—an effort that eventually brought a small army of architects, preservation professionals and others to New Orleans and the Gulf Coast to help assess and alleviate damage. In the following months, we launched a housing demonstration program called “Home Again” focusing on restoring historic homes in the Lower 9th Ward’s Holy Cross neighborhood, spearheaded the revitalization of several neighborhood commercial areas through our National Main Street Center, and worked with American Express to award grants to deserving projects through the Partners in Preservation program.
The resurgence of Holy Cross, the dissemination of over $17 million in grants for historic rehabilitation work throughout the city, the successful completion of all the Partners in Preservation grant projects, and the establishment of several Main Street programs in the city all testify to the fact that the National Trust’s work in the city has been successful in many ways, and we are immensely proud of this fact. None of these achievements would have happened without the generosity of the National Trust’s funders, or without the members who make our work possible. We are also immensely grateful to our local partners the Preservation Resource Center of New Orleans.
Although the economic realities of the recent recession forced us to briefly close our New Orleans field office last year, I am happy to report that we were able to re-open it in May. With Gate Pratt on board as director of the field office, the National Trust is again on the ground every day advocating for the preservation of the city’s irreplaceable historic character. A key priority right now is working to find a solution to the city’s health care needs—one that brings 21st century medical care to the people of New Orleans without necessitating the demolition of an intact historic neighborhood. Regrettably, some demolition of historic homes in the Mid-City neighborhood has already occurred, but we remain committed to working with elected leaders on a design for new hospitals that will minimize further damage to the neighborhood.
Clearly, the work of the recovery is far from over. For the National Trust, New Orleans remains firmly atop our priority list. In fact, on his last day as president of the National Trust this spring, Richard Moe wrote a letter to President Obama urging a less-destructive approach to the Mid-City hospital issue. As the new president of the National Trust, I will work to ensure that the Trust does all it can to ensure that New Orleans retains the distinctive charm and unique historic character that have long made it a crown jewel among American cities.
The National Trust for Historic Preservation, a privately-funded nonprofit organization, works to save America’s historic places to enrich our future. www.PreservationNation.org
