Gulf Coast Recovery
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Read weekly reports from the Gulf Coast from Walter Gallas, Director of the New Orleans Field Office. Learn More
Resources for Gulf Coast Homeowners
From repairing flood-damaged homes to finding funding help. Learn More
Charity Hospital
Sitting vacant since Hurricane Katrina, this Art Deco icon and beacon of health care in New Orleans is now sitting vulnerable to demolition and is on this year's 11 Most Endangered List. Learn More
For most of us the events associated with Hurricane Katrina are memory. For hundreds of thousands people on the Gulf Coast they are a daily fact of life as they travel the long road to recovery. Three years after the disaster struck, the National Trust for Historic Preservation continues to work diligently with our partners in Louisiana and Mississippi to protect and enhance the special character of the places these people enjoy.
Our Position
The National Trust for Historic Preservation is committed to playing an active role in responding to catastrophic national disasters. We are dedicated to assisting affected neighborhoods in rebuilding and stabilizing cultural resources and older and historic communities and support full compliance with Section 106 review under the National Historic Preservation Act in the aftermath of any natural or man-made disaster -- particularly in the distribution of Federal disaster aid in the form of grants, loans, tax credits and any in-kind contributions, which may also be provided in match from States and localities to affected citizens.
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In New Orleans we maintain a New Orleans Field Office that provides on the ground leadership and advocacy to protect buildings from unnecessary demolition, monitors governmental agencies for compliance with preservation laws, proposes policies that help owners of historic properties in their recovery efforts and helps coordinate the dizzying array of preservation activities throughout the city. The Director of our field office, Walter Gallas, maintains a lively preservation blog about the unique city of New Orleans and its equally unique preservation challenges.
We also operate the HOME AGAIN! program out of our New Orleans Field Office. HOME AGAIN! provides direct technical assistance and funding to low and moderate income owners of historic properties. Since late 2005 we have helped 11 different families reclaim their homes and restart their lives. You can find some of their stories here. We are currently working with 7 new projects. Our HOME AGAIN! efforts are concentrated in the Holy Cross neighborhood in the 9th Ward of New Orleans and are intended to be a catalyst for neighborhood renewal and a demonstration to a watching city and world of the viability of New Orleans' historic neighborhoods.
All of our efforts in New Orleans are made possible by the strong partnership we have with the Preservation Resource Center of New Orleans. Not only is our field office housed in their headquarters but they help us coordinate all of our efforts in the city. This includes:
- The National Main Street Center working to establish a new, citywide Main Street program in New Orleans.
- The National Trust's Community Revitalization Department efforts to help build the capacity of Operation Comeback and placing a Field Officer in New Orleans.
Likewise, in Mississippi we are working with our partners, the Mississippi Heritage Trust and the Mississippi Department of Archives and History to save those important remaining historic places on Mississippi’s Gulf Coast. The future of places like Beauvoir, the Gulfport Veterans Administration Hospital campus, and the Charnley House are still in the balance and our support of our partners in working for the future of these special places is an integral part of our Gulf Coast recovery efforts.
Lowe's Katrina Cottage
Lowe's is supporting hurricane recovery efforts through a contribution to the National Trust's Hurricane Recovery Fund and in offering the Katrina Cottage, a small, permanent home designed as a dignified alternative to the FEMA trailer. The National Trust supports this initiative and commends Lowe's for its leadership in making these units available.
PreservationNation Blog: Gulf Coast Recovery 
Notes from New Orleans: New Hope for Charity Hospital
This week the architectural firm of RMJM Hillier released its report on the condition of the Charity Hospital building in New Orleans. The firm had been engaged by the Foundation for Historical Louisiana, a National Trust statewide partner, to assess the building’s structural condition and its potential to return to use as a modern hospital. [...]
Notes from New Orleans: An Alternate Site for the VA?
An alternative site for the VA’s new hospital is getting serious scrutiny. A public meeting is set for Monday, August 11 to present information on the Lindy Boggs alternative hospital site and to take comments in compliance with environmental and historic preservation review requirements.
This is an encouraging sign, but of course only another step before [...]
Notes from New Orleans: Mississippi Oil Spill Clean-Up Continues
Traffic on the Mississippi River was started, then stopped, then started again this week as efforts continued to both clean up the massive 400,000 gallon oil spill along 100 miles of the lower Mississippi, but also to raise the barge which held the oil. Latest reports from the Coast Guard investigation indicated that the captain [...]
