Mar 04, 2020
The restored St. Rose de Lima Church that now houses Southern Rep Theatre. The outside courtyard was restored as an additional performance space and a way to connect the building to the community.
The 1938 schoolhouse at 2533 Columbus has been transformed into the Parish Hall offices, a shared workspace highlighted by several strong nonprofit organizations.
Interior of church building during construction. Restoration included asbestos and lead-based paint abatement which was partially funded by LDEQ’s Brownfield Program.
New Orleans Mayor LaToya Cantrell speaks at the grant opening for the Southern Rep Theatre located in the former St. Rose de Lima Church
Following Hurricane Katrina and the 2005 floods, community leaders in the 7th Ward and Treme neighborhoods in New Orleans identified a need for spaces that supported the cultural arts and the burgeoning education sector. This planning work coalesced into the vision of creating a campus to advance these goals at the vacant and deconsecrated St. Rose de Lima church and related school site on Bayou Road and Columbus Street, and the Rose Community Development Corporation (Rose CDC) nonprofit was born. In addition to restoring the historic church and two adjacent parochial school buildings, the redevelopment also supported the revitalization of Bayou Road, originally a historic Native American trail between the Mississippi River and Lake Pontchartrain which is now a corridor of African-American owned and run small businesses including restaurants and cafes, an art gallery, Caribbean club, beauty salons and others.
Under the leadership of Hal Brown, Vera Warren Williams, Vaughn Fauria, Jeanne Nathan, Robert Tannen and others, Rose CDC secured site control of the St. Rose de Lima campus from the Archdiocese of New Orleans. The next step was to identify and address environmental concerns to prepare the site for reuse. In 2011, Hal Brown approached the Regional Planning Commission (RPC) for the New Orleans metro area to request assistance through their Brownfield Redevelopment Program. RPC performed a Phase I environmental site assessment (ESA) which identified several recognized environmental concerns including a potential underground storage tank and potential off-site contamination from nearby automotive facilities as well as lead-based paint, asbestos and avian fecal matter (AFM) in the buildings. With significant LDEQ oversight and support, RPC enrolled the site into LDEQ’s Voluntary Remediation Program (VRP) and conducted a VRP-compliant Phase II ESA including soil and groundwater sampling as well as the removal of two underground storage tanks (USTs). Based on the sampling results, LDEQ closed both USTs and issued a No Further Action letter for soil and groundwater. RPC then developed a cleanup plan to address the lead, asbestos and AFM in the buildings. LDEQ’s Brownfields Program provided key gap funding for the abatement activities which were conducted in coordination with building restoration and redevelopment.
In 2014, Rose CDC brought on Alembic Community Development, a mission-driven development partner, to help realize their vision to support the arts, education, entrepreneurship and community. The 1915 church building on Bayou Road is now home to Southern Rep Theatre with three performance areas to showcase and advance the performing arts: a mainstage theater with seating for approximately 125 patrons for major productions; an open performance area inside the front of the church with a lounge and bar hosting cabaret, independent and emerging theatre companies, children’s performances, readings, concerts and solo acts; and an outdoor plaza and performance area that opens up the building and programs directly to Bayou Road.
The 1938 schoolhouse at 2533 Columbus has been transformed into the Parish Hall offices, a shared workspace highlighted by several strong nonprofit organizations including KID smART, the New Orleans Arts Education Alliance, NewCorp, the Louisiana Philharmonic Orchestra, the Unanimous Jury Coalition, Brothers Empowered to Teach, Women With a Vision, and Jane Place Neighborhood Sustainability Initiative. Fund 17, a nonprofit organization that provides tailored business development and capital access assistance to community entrepreneurs and business owners in New Orleans, is the programmatic anchor for Parish Hall. In addition to conventional office suites, Parish Hall offers 2-3 person private offices, semi-private workstations and open desks in a shared facility with conference and meeting rooms, free wifi, printing and copying, a kitchen, and flexible leasing.
The 1925 schoolhouse at 2539 Columbus is home to the Waldorf School of New Orleans, a nonprofit school operating in New Orleans for more than 15 years that integrates academics with the arts, culture and community from nursery through 8th grade.
Total development costs topped $11.8 million, resulting in a $1:$49 leveraged funding ratio for the total amount of EPA Brownfield funding invested in the project. In addition to support from the RPC’s and LDEQ’s Brownfield Programs, funding sources included New Markets Tax Credits, federal and State of Louisiana Historic Rehabilitation Tax Credits, loans from the New Orleans Redevelopment Authority and State of Louisiana Office of Community Development, loans from Reinvestment Fund, and funding from the City of New Orleans Economic Development Fund. The next time you’re in the area, consider checking out a Southern Rep Theatre performance to check out the new development!
Information in this article provided by: http://alembiccommunity.com/rose-collaborative/