Thread by @mrjordanhirsch

A thread about the post-Ida condition of cultural landmarks in Armstrong Park…

The Perseverance Hall kitchen building lost a wall

It dates to 1830, though it’s best known today as the former Treehouse Studio of @wwoz_neworleans

acloserwalknola.com/places/wwoz-st…

Perseverance Hall, a venue for early jazz artists like Sidney Bechet, appears to be in good shape.

acloserwalknola.com/places/perseve…

The Municipal Auditorium seemed to have a few more busted windows

The City protected some of them, but these window coverings were blown off, not unlike community opposition to the building’s proposed redevelopment as City Hall

For more on the cultural legacy of the venue—where Hank Williams staged his wedding and Ernie K-Doe went toe-to-toe with James Brown—there’s this:

acloserwalknola.com/places/municip…

The precise damage caused by Ida—the roof damage visible here may have been pre-existing —will have major implications for the FEMA $ that’s driving the City’s redevelopment plans for the facility

Some good news: the oak trees in Congo Square came through. They’re regarded as sacred, as the overlook a gathering place for enslaved people whose ritual drumming and dancing was foundational to the birth of jazz

Not a cultural issue, but outside the park (on Tuesday the 31st, two days after Ida) a line for gas stretched nearly the length of the French Quarter. Some folks trying to drive out of town, others hoping to fuel generators