That's right.  Tomorrow is your chance to tell policy-makers how to use Charity Hospital.

Head to City Hall tomorrow evening to provide input on the potential reuse of Charity Hospital.  And be sure to make the obvious suggestion: reuse Charity Hospital...as Charity Hospital!  Utilizing the existing structure would eliminate concerns about the lack of funding for the proposed replacement hospital, and it would eliminate the need to demolish more of Lower Mid-City.

Monday October 18, 2010

6:00 pm to 8:30 pm: Public Meeting

Location: New Orleans City Council Chambers, City Hall, 1300 Perdido Street.

Reuse and/or Disposition of Historic Buildings in the Medical Center of Louisiana at New Orleans (Charity Hospital). The Louisiana State Office of Facility Planning and Control “seeks public input and comment in regards to adaptive reuse of the 9 historically significant buildings that made up the former MCLNO that were damaged during Hurricane Katrina…”

On Monday, a large group of local advocates stood in front of a partially dismantled house in the footprint of the proposed UMC Hospital in Lower Mid-City (set to replace Charity Hospital) to call for a halt to demolitions.

LSU does not have the funding in place to build the replacement hospital.  The City has not closed the streets in the site at this time.  And unlike the VA Hospital site across S. Galvez, there are no house moving plans in place for the dozens of historic homes in the site.

Three properties have already been demolished despite the lack of funding to complete the project.

Here is a sampling of the media that resulted from the press conference:

"More resistance to state hospital plans"

"Preservationists call for LSU to move, not demolish homes"

"Activists argue for preservation of houses on University Medical Center site"

"Group Protests Demolitions For LSU Hospital"

Please contact local elected officials to reinforce the call for a halt to demolitions.

The Louisiana Museum of African American History Presents:

• Kathe Hambrick-Jackson Director, River Road African American Museum K
• Kenneth Bryant, Architect, Artist, Author of Color
• Keith W. Medley, Author-Researcher
• Jari Honora, Researcher-Writer

Come to the City Council chambers this Friday to express any sentiments you may have on the dismantling of Lower Mid-City - and call your Council Member and the Mayor to demand a moratorium on further demolitions until financial and legal irregularities can be addressed!

Residents of the LSU/VA Footprint are not currently scheduled to present at the meeting, even though the meeting is being held for their benefit.  The City Council's own earlier April resolution mandates that it hold regular meetings with residents in the LSU/VA Footprint to inform them as to what is being done to their neighborhood.

NEW ORLEANS City Council:
SPECIAL HOUSING & HUMAN NEEDS COMMITTEE MEETING

FRIDAY, OCTOBER 8, 2010 @ 10:00 AM

The City Council Housing and Human Needs Committee will hold a “Special” meeting on Friday, October 8, 2010 at 10:00 a.m. in the City Council Chamber on the first floor of City Hall. The items offered for committee meetings are subject to approval by the committee chairperson. 

The agenda item(s) are as follows:

I. Presentation by the Administration regarding the status of the Veterans Administration Medical Center project’s property demolitions, acquisitions, and relocations, as required by Council Motion 
10-193: Number of closings, the scope of agreements reached, disputes, and the funds expended to 
date.

Presenter: Brenda Breaux, Chief Deputy City Attorney

For information regarding this meeting, please contact:  Theresa Becher at 504-658-1020 or Donna Johnson at 504-658-1095

 On Wednesday, advocates for the re-opening, refurbishment, and restoration of Charity Hospital presented the case for saving the iconic building before the Healthcare and Social Services Committee of the New Orleans City Council.

The video of the presentation is available here.  Footage starts at 1 hour and 27 minutes and is broken down by individual speaker. 

Information presented to the Health Care and Social Services Committee on September 22, 2010 revealed that moving forward with demolitions and acquisitions for the proposed LSU/VA hospitals in historic Lower Mid-City could put the city at risk both legally and financially.

Among other things, advocates discussed the fact that the Cooperative Endeavor Agreement between the Nagin Administration and the state, which was never approved by the City Council, leaves the city vulnerable for any expropriations that are challenged.  On August 11, 2008, at a public meeting to discuss all possibilities for the location of the VAMC, Ed Blakely used federal funds to influence the selection by saying the city would only use its CDBG dollars to support the VA if they chose the site designated by the Nagin administration.   Additionally, a HUD Administrative Complaint, currently under review, documents the administration's material misrepresentations in their application for federal funds.

Our political leaders, who represent the city, should not look away from these new revelations.  The city is liable - and has its hands in every level of this.  The city needs to place a moratorium on the dismantling of the Lower Mid City neighborhood until the full legal and financial ramifications are known.

Thank you to all who have signed the petition and helped to gather more signatures.  We now have over 10,000 signatures!   We will continue collecting signatures until Mayor Landrieu agrees to meet with us.

In the meantime, New Orleans City Councilman Jon Johnson has requested a presentation on Charity Hospital at the upcoming Healthcare and Social Services Meeting.  Johnson seeks information and reasons as to why re-opening Charity Hospital would be appropriate.

Please join us in making the case that Charity Hospital should be refurbished and re-opened as outlined in the RMJM Hillier study.  Under that plan, re-opening the existing Charity Hospital building will provide New Orleans with a state-of-the-art medical facility that does not require the destruction of historic neighborhoods in Lower Mid-City and reduces a glaring sense of vacancy in the CBD and existing Medical District.  It is not too late to do the right thing, and we appreciate Councilman Johnson's willingness to listen.



The meeting will be held this week on Wednesday, September 22, 2010 at 10 a.m. in the City Council Chambers.  According to Johnson's staff, the meeting will also include a question and answer session.  We encourage you to come and lend your voice.

Hundreds of New Orleanians marched Thursday from the shuttered Charity Hospital building to City Hall.  The marchers, accompanied by brass bands, sought to deliver thousands of petitions to Mayor Mitch Landrieu urging him to re-open the landmark art deco hospital instead of destroying acres of historic housing in the Lower Mid-City neighborhood.

A copy of the petition remains available online for signature here.  If you have already signed, please ask others to do so.

We will continue collecting both online and on the ground until we can not only give the petitions to the Mayor - but he also meets to discuss.  While we were not able to present the petitions to the Mayor, we are in discussions with his staff about a meeting in the near future, and we anticipate presenting the petitions soon.

Additional links:

"Charity Hospital advocates hope for fresh start with seating of new board"

"Hospital plans defy the state's budget realities"

Join the Treme, Hot 8, Free Agents, Original Pinstripe, and Young Pinstripe Brass Bands for a march from the Rev. Avery C. Alexander Charity Hospital to City Hall!

Help us deliver thousands of petitions to ask Mayor Landrieu for his support to build a 21st Century Hospital in the shell of the iconic Rev. Avery C. Alexander Charity Hospital, avoiding the destruction of an historic neighborhood. 

The Mayor has said he has an open mind and will listen.  Help us send the message: New Orleans supports the fiscally responsible and faster FHL/RMJM Hillier Architects Plan to reopen a state-of-the-art Reverend Avery C. Alexander Charity Hospital!

Sign the petition to Mayor Landrieu online HERE.

March Details:

Thursday September 2, 2010

Formation: 4:45 PM

Kick Off: 5:00 PM

Location: 1532 Tulane Avenue