My primary case study in New Orleans is the McDonogh 19 building, now home to the Tate, Etienne, Prevost (TEP) Center and housing. The school was one of the first two schools in Louisiana to be integrated in 1960. Three six-year-old girls: Leona Tate, Gail Etienne, and Tessie Prevost, were the first black students to enter the school (escorted by federal marshals), which was subsequently evacuated of all white students. The girls attended the school alone for about a year and a half. After hurricane Katrina, the building sat vacant for some years before the Leona Tate Foundation and Alembic Community Development (a developer specializing in affordable housing and adaptive reuse) partnered to purchase the building and convert it into affordable senior housing.

The first floor of the building, as well as the main entryway, will make up an interpretive center dedicated to framing the girls’ experience within the larger narrative of the civil rights movement. The building also features classrooms and office space shared by three nonprofit organizations.

I’ve been very excited by this case study, as it provides a great example of thoughtful adaptive reuse as well as deliberate and detailed commemoration and community engagement. The building was an established fixture in the neighborhood fabric, as schools of similar scale and style dot the central corridor of St Claude Avenue, and affordable housing was not only sorely needed but solidly supported by the community. The interpretive center provides an opportunity to acknowledge the cultural and historical significance of the space, and enhances the building’s use as a sort of community center, as well as a residence.

For more info:

https://www.leonatatefoundation.org/mcdonogh-19

https://www.tepcenter.org/partners