A Report From New Orleans

(September 16, 2005) The tragedy of lost lives and displaced citizens of New Orleans will continue to be paramount in these horrific weeks, months, perhaps, years ahead of us.

But New Orleans will come back and will once again be a wonderful community to live in, work in and visit. Cities and towns throughout history have survived severe flooding, ravishing fires, earthquakes, and tornadoes and have been rebuilt. We will, too. New Orleanians are irrepressibly in love with our city and won't rest until it is restored and rebuilt.

Our organization, the Preservation Resource Center, has worked hand in hand with neighborhood groups since 1974 to revitalize and restore New Orleans. After Katrina, our charge is even stronger.

We can report that many of the oldest areas of New Orleans closest to the river -- from Bywater downriver of the French Quarter to St. Charles Avenue in Uptown and Carrollton --are intact. Some historic areas north of the French Quarter are also on higher ground and have not incurred the severe and tragic flooding. Nonetheless, areas closer to the lake and downriver of the Industrial Canal, including Preservation Resource Center's target area in the historic Lower Ninth Ward neighborhood of Holy Cross, have not fared well in this disaster.

As the water recedes, much will be salvageable. Where buildings have been damaged, we will repair them. Where we have lost buildings, we will rebuild with structures that reflect the New Orleans that is known and loved around the world. This is a time to learn from the buildings that have survived natural disasters. Over the Preservation Resource Center's history, we have renovated houses that have been deemed teardowns by everyone else. We have brought back neighborhoods where lenders were afraid to go. We are ready.

There are solutions. We are communicating with the National Trust for Historic Preservation, Preservation Action, the Historic Charleston Foundation and our state and local governments on ideas to provide incentives for restoring homes and neighborhoods. These in turn will attract additional private investment and stimulate the ripple effect that we depend upon to bring the neighborhoods back. Our staff and board are developing plans to work with neighborhoods to assist their restoration and rebuilding efforts.

Much remains of our city. Much can and must be done to utilize the wealth of human, material and cultural resources of our city to generate recovery and economic activity as soon as possible. It has already begun.

We need your help.

Donating to the Preservation Resource Center of New Orleans that has been on the ground for 30 years revitalizing, rebuilding and restoring New Orleans historic neighborhoods. It is the mission of the Preservation Resource Center of New Orleans to maintain and augment the city's unique character that is known and loved around the world. Our staff is hard at work in exile and we need you help.

How to help: Click here www.preserveneworleans.com to donate online or mail donations to the Historic Charleston Foundation, made out to the Preservation Resource Center, Preservation Disaster Relief Fund. The address is 40 East Bay Street, Charleston, SC 29401.

by Patricia Gay, Executive Director, Preservation Resource Center