NEW ORLEANS – Last week, the New Orleans City Council voted unanimously in favor of Levees.org’s zoning change request.
This was the last and final hurdle for Levees.org’s quest to convert a flooded house – one that’s just a stone’s throw from a levee breach – into a historic monument.
The home at 4918 Warrington Dr., in the Mirabeau Gardens neighborhood of Gentilly, flooded to its roof when the London Avenue Canal floodwall, built by the Army Corps of Engineers, failed far below design specs.
City Councilman Jared Brossett for District D said he believed Levees.org’s plan for the house, vacant since Hurricane Katrina, was a good use for the property.
The goal for the house’s interior is to create a replica of how a flooded living room looked six weeks after the breach.
The possibilities are infinite, but certainly the replica will include mud-covered toppled furniture and “mold” growing up the walls, Levees.org reps said. The replica will be visible through the front windows.
A newly created organization called Levees.org II will maintain the property and will also have 501 © 3 tax status allowing it to accept grants.
Anyone wishing to participate in designing and/ or creating the replica, can contact: sandy@levees.org
The ribbon cutting is planned for March of 2017.
