Sara Mayo Hospital - New Orleans' Nine Submission

New Orleans' Nine are 9 properties that are the most endangered in the city of New Orleans. The Sara Mayo Hospital was my nomination.

It ended up being sold and is in the process of being redeveloped. Thus, it did not make the NO9 List of 2016. Good thing!

1. //location::
609-25 Jackson Avenue
SARA MAYO HOSPITAL
A New Orleans’ Nine Submission
//architects::
Freret and Wolf

2. Photos: Courtesy of NOLA Assessor
//site plan::
1942 - 1960: Sara Mayo Hospital
1960 - 1979: River of Life Hospital
Height: 5 storys tall
Building size: 124,643 sq. ft.
Lot size: 97,374 sq. ft.
Land Value: $1,265,900
Building Value: $634,100
Total Value: $1,900,000
Neighborhoods: Lower Garden
District and the Irish Channel
Zone: Multi-Family, Residential
Streets: Between Magazine and
Tchoupitoulas. Corner of Jackson and
Chippewa, bounded by Josephine and
St. Thomas Streets.
Location Size Names
SARA MAYO HOSPITAL

3. //brutalist architecture::
Le Corbusier
French Architect
“Béton Brut”“Raw Concrete”
BRUTALIST
1950s - 1970s
opposition
to Beaux Art
functionality
concrete = “raw,
unpretentious
honesty”
Photo: Sara Mayo Hospital, 1950. Beaux Art Archi-
tecture. Courtesy of New Orleans Public Library,
the Alexander Allison Photograph Collection.
Photo: River of Life Hospital (former
Sara Mayo Hospita), 2012.
Photo: The National Mussum of Western Art, in Japan. Built in 1959, designed in
Brutalist style by LeCorbusier..
SARA MAYO HOSPITAL

4. //freret and wolf:: the architects
SARA MAYO HOSPITAL
1949
Third model of the
Southern Yacht Club
1946
Photo: Southern Yacht Club, 1949. Courtesy of the
LOUIS Digital Library.
Douglass V. Freret, Jr. and Albert J. Wolf create their
architectural firm.
1960
Reconstruction design of the
Sara Mayo Hospital1962
Design of the New Orleans
branch of the United States
Post Office Main Builing
1952
Design of elementary school
McDonough 39
Receive AIA Merit Award for
Ponchartrain Bus Stop
Shelter

5. Video and Photographic Documentation
//what the locals think::
1
2
Articles & Testimonies
3
Demolition & Reuse Proposals
SARA MAYO HOSPITAL

6. //articles & testimonies::1
It’s been “cited as a nuisance by neighborhood leaders” since it’s been abandoned.
Source: FOX8Live.com Staff
Jul 18, 2012
“Groups of nature lovers are sometimes seen at 609 Jackson admiring two live oak trees that are several
centuries old.”
Source: Susan Buchanan, writer, The Blog, Huffington Post
May 19,2013
The plaintiff claims it was originally seeking to demolish the property but was denied Road Home grant money to do so and that subsequently
it has sought to sell the property to a third party developer ...the lien has resulted in the property being listed for liquidation sale by the Or-
leans Parish Sheriff’s Office.”
Source: Kyle Barnett, LouisianaRecord.com
Aug 6, 2012
“The project is one part of a revival along Jackson Street. Morris is hopeful that plans pan out for development of the five-story former
River of Life hospital across the street, which has been vacant since 1979.”
Source: Southern Jewish Life Magazine Staff
Feb 2014
Source: The Associated Press
Jul 5, 2012
A city news release says the former River of Life hospital was last appraised at $1.4 million, and the minimum bid is $933,333.33.
The city is foreclosing because the owner owes more than $320,000 in taxes and liens.
Jul 5,2012
Jul 16, 2012
Aug 6, 2012
May 19, 2013
Feb, 2014
Oct 27, 2015
blight
financial
problems
neighborhood
redevelopment
proposal
“The City Planning Commission sided with their staff planners, however, and voted to recommend approval of the project with 111 total
residential units.”
Source: Robert Morris, reporter
Oct 27, 2015

7. //video & photographic documentation::2
Video
Photographic
Source: Suzy Robin, The Urban Bridge
Dec 9, 2013
Social Media

8. New Orleans Developer:
Wayne Brown
Redevelopment includes:
the American Paint Works
building.
//demolition & reuse proposals::3
Luxury Apartments ProposalsDemolition Proposals
Demolition to the property has
been submitted about 80 times
from 2010 - 2014 for a total fee of
nearly $360,000.
California Developer: Gregg
Morris
Redevelopment includes:
Shaare Tefillah Synagogue.
Investors:Kalis Company
Proposal includes: 211
residential units + commercial
use on the ground floor.
2010
2014
2012
2014
2015

9. Considerations for NO9 Nomination
Federal and state historic tax credits could help fund the project.
Lower Garden District is in need of more market-rate housing options, but how will
density change the neighborhood?
The site of the former hospitals called for the past needs of the neighborhood. The pres-
ent needs of the neighborhood call for something different.
SARA MAYO HOSPITAL
The office of Freret and Wolf: contribution to modern architecture in New Orleans as
well as residential along Uptown and Esplanade.
Brutalist style architecture in neighborhood.
Redevelop the neighborhood through development of this building can help rbing real
estate up, bring lucrative businesses, and good homes.

10. 609-25 Jackson Avenue
New Orleans
Louisiana
A New Orleans’ Nine Submission
SARA MAYO HOSPITAL