Refurbish, reuse, or demolish
Description
This practicum project contrasts the challenges and opportunities in preserving the historic public schools of the City of New Orleans. By combining an overview of the rehabilitation of New Orleans public schools to charter schools with research into the outcomes of restored, redeveloped and demolished public school buildings, this project seeks to both document past failures and successes, and to provide a roadmap for sensitive restoration and reuse of public school buildings. Case studies will focus on two current historic preservation projects that I worked on personally—the rehabilitation of the Martin Behrman School and the expansion and rehabilitation of the Alfred C. Priestley Junior High School (now the Lycée François de la Nouvelle-Orléans)—and two famous buildings, McDonogh 11 (now demolished) and the Carrollton Courthouse (currently being redeveloped). No discussion into the fate of public school building in New Orleans would be complete without a thorough examination of the changes wrought on the city by Hurricane Katrina. The large population decline, along with the demographic changes in the city following the hurricane necessitated, and provided pretext, for a massive reorganization and restructuring of the 123 public schools under the Orleans Parish School Board's control. The transition to Charter Schools fundamentally changed both the nature of public school education in New Orleans and the upkeep and management of the public school building stock, providing a plethora of preservation case studies — both cautionary tales and success stories.