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Improved Project for the purchase of the Chevron buidling

Orleans Parish

Determination of Eligibility
Section 106 Review
New Orleans City Hall
1300 Perdidio Street, New Orleans , Orleans Parish

Context

The New Orleans Civic Center, designed around an asymmetrical landscaped plaza, was
the keystone of the 1950’s master plan for the City of New Orleans that included massive
modernization of the city’s infrastructure. The City Hall, the first building constructed as
part of the complex, is arguably the most important building as it was the location of
governance of what was intended to be the new metropolis envisioned by the new mayor.
Mayor DeLesseps Story “Chep” Morrison, promised a “decade of progress” when he was
elected in 1946. The construction of the Civic Center coincidentally required the
elimination of what was perceived by many in the new administration as “a cancerous
slum” that still stood along the edges of the business district. Office of the Mayor 1955-1956 Annual
Report of the Mayor 1956 (New Orleans, LA office of the Mayor) page 5

The Civic Center was touted as a public convenience and promised a new openness that
was intended to be a symbol of the Morrison Administration. Its construction allowed for
the consolidation of dispersed city and state departments operating in old or obsolete
buildings. The new complex located in a central area would be modern, comfortable,
efficient and easily accessible as a result of the redevelopment plan that, among other
things, called for broad boulevards and easy parking. New Orleans, like many other cities
in the nation, was facing a gradual deterioration of its central business district. It was
expected that the Civic Center would help preserve the central business district by
attracting future development.

The concept of a Civic Center came from Brooke Duncan (after whom Duncan Plaza is
named) who was appointed the director of the reorganized city planning division in 1946.
Mayor Morrison adopted the plan as part of his administration’s long range capital
improvements policy. In 1947, $1,000,000 was added to a larger bond issue slated for
the construction of Union Passenger Terminal, the first structure to be built as part of the
redevelopment plan. The additional $1,000,000 was for the acquisition of the area
bounded by Old Saratoga (Loyola), Gravier, La Salle and Poydras Streets for the location
of the Civic Center. The library would ultimately be located outside the six square area
on the site formerly occupied by the old Criminal Courts Building.

New Orleans was one of many American cities that were undergoing redevelopment or
“urban renewal” during the 1950’s, which included large scale demolition of poorer
neighborhoods. In New Orleans, a deteriorated neighborhood northwest of the present
day central business district known as the Back o’ Town was slated for redevelopment
beginning in the 1930’s. Over many generations, the area was populated by poor
immigrants of diverse racial groups including people with French, Spanish African,
Italian and German backgrounds. It was the location of gambling and prostitution houses
as well as modest residences, respectable small businesses, churches and legitimate
places of entertainment. Louis Armstrong grew up in Back o’ Town and it was in its
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many musical establishments such as the legendary Funk Butt Hall where jazz originated.
With purchase of the land for the Civic Center, the remainder Back o’ Town vanished.
Brooke Duncan worked behind the scenes to acquire the six squares with the tax payers’
$1,000,000. As the buildings were demolished the property was leased to vendors for
parking until construction began.

In May, 1950, the city’s Commission Council authorized a loan from the federal
government to cover architect and design fees for the appointed three local, well
respected architectural firms. The firms conducted a survey of the area and divided the
work. In September of 1951, the architects outlined specifications for the City Hall
project but it was not until late 1954 that the property tax payers approved the sum of
$7,000,000 for the City Hall project. Construction began in 1955 and commenced in
1957.

The “Parade of Progress” to celebrate its completion was held on May 6, 1957, the
eleventh anniversary of the first election of Mayor Morrison. At the banquet, Mayor
Robert Wagner of New York City was invited to give the key note address, thereby
positioning New Orleans with other great American cities. In keeping with Mayor
Morrison’s dream, Mayor Wagner called for bold steps to meet the challenges of the
metropolitan age. This message was in keeping with the transformation of the urban
landscape then taking place under Robert Moses in New York City. By the time Mayor
Morrison left office in 1961, the City of New Orleans’ Central Business District was
transformed by the Civic Center and wider streets and boulevards which linked it to the
rest of the city.

Architects

The architectural firms responsible for the design of the City Hall, Goldstein, Parham
and Labouisse, with Favrot, Reed, Mathes and Bergman, were local firms whose
members where from old New Orleanian families, but the modern designs of some of
their buildings, including City Hall, indicated they had ties beyond the south.

Like many of its peers, the firm Favrot, Reed, Mathes & Bergman (1950-1958) morphed
with younger partners following World War II and changed its name at that time. It
began to attract work with Modernist-influenced designs, such as the New Orleans
Baptist Theological Seminary Elementary School (1952) (the first of many buildings the
firm completed on this campus); Lakeview Elementary School (1957); and public
commissions like the Civil Courts Building (1957). Within a year of the completion of
the Civil Courts Building, the firm split. Afterwards the firm of Mathes Bergman &
Associates (1959-1973) emerged and they participated with Curtis & Davis and Edward
B. Silverstein on the design of the Rivergate Convention Center (1968) and the New
Orleans Cultural Arts Center Theater for Performing Arts (1970).

Parham & Labouisse (1947-1962), was formed out of the merger of partners from two of
New Orleans’ most successful early-twentieth century firms Goldstein, Parham &
Labouisse, and the surviving junior members of the architectural practice of Rathbone
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Debuys. The new firm captured a significant number of commissions in the post-war
years, including extensive work for Dillard University, Tulane University and the Times-
Picayune Co. Moise Goldstein designed the American Bank and Trust Company
Building (1924), located at 315-319 St. Charles Avenue which is considered to be
conservatively modern. In addition, Goldstein was part of the Joint Advisory Committee
on Planning and Development of the United Nations Headquarters.

Mayor Morrison’s forward looking plans for the City of New Orleans found expression
in the International Style which was a break in architectural tradition. It called for
rectilinear forms, plane surfaces stripped of applied ornamentation, and open interior
spaces that tended to be functional and logical. The most commonly used materials were
glass for the façade, steel for exterior support, and reinforced concrete for the floors and
interior supports. Although the International Style dominated American architecture
from the 1950s through the late 1970s, there are relatively few buildings in that style in
New Orleans and in Louisiana. In New Orleans, many of them are found along Canal
Street

Description of City Hall

The New Orleans City Hall is bounded by Perdido, LaSalle, Poydras Street and Loyola
Boulevard. Constructed in 1955-1957 as the first of five buildings of the Civic Center, it
is situated just southwest of the New Orleans Lower Central Business District and east of
the New Orleans Medical Historic District. Two of the five buildings in the complex, the
State Office Building and the State Office Building Annex (constructed as the State
Supreme Court of Louisiana) were demolished in 2009. The Civil Courts building is
situated in the southeast corner of the same block as City Hall. Across Duncan Plaza to
the north is the New Orleans City Library, the final building in the complex and it has
been determined eligible for the National Register of Historic Places.

The design of City Hall, including the siting of the building, is in keeping with the
elements of the International Style. Rectilinear forms are used, including the rectangular
main tower, the two-story, truncated triangle attached to the east that houses the council
chambers, and the two-story office blocks on the west end. To the rear of the building is a
four-story garage (two stories are under ground) with a rectangular footprint with one
rounded wall. Ornamentation on the exterior is limited to the contrasting and attractive
colors of the materials (primarily green tinted glass, neutral limestone and red polished
marble) and the textures of the grids created by the functionality of the window systems.
The interior decoration is simple, and the plan is functional if not consciously designed to
symbolize the goals of the new administration.

The 11-story office building block is comprised of structural steel, reinforced concrete
and hollow clay tile, and is finished in quality materials. It has granite copings, and
limestone cladding covers the base, crown and corners of the building. Green reflective
glass sheaths the front (north) elevation of the building, and vertical aluminum louvers
are angled to shade the sun from the green reflective glass walls behind the louvers on the
rear and sides. On the front, the first floor extends out beyond the upper floors and has a
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ribbon of double hung green glass windows. On the rear, the upper floors are cantilevered
over the first floor.

At the front of the building, a rounded terrazzo terrace bordered by a granite balustrade
has wide shallow stairs and a center ramp leading to the recessed entrance in the center of
the building. Two large simple columns clad in polished red granite flank the four plain
glass entrance doors. Over the recessed entrance clad with the same red polished granite
is a cartouche in bas relief of the City of New Orleans. Incised in the granite to the left is
the formal cornerstone information. On the right are the four crests of the nations that
have flown flags over New Orleans (United States, the Confederacy, France and Spain).
The simple lobby has rounded walls that are paneled in black granite wainscoting and is
open to the second floor behind an extruded aluminum railing. At the rear of the lobby
are the elevators surrounded by a lighter marble.

The building’s interior reflected the goals of the mayor’s administration. It was modern,
efficient and easily accessible: The services most commonly used by the public
(including obtaining marriage, birth and death certificates, and paying utility bills and
taxes) were located on the first floor. The mayor and city councilmen’s office were on
the second floor. The four public elevators, a number considered generous, were self-
serving, and air conditioning was provided throughout the building, something that was
considered “modern” in the South at the time. The louvers blocked the sun and helped to
cool the building, thereby saving taxpayers’ money. Despite the modern design and the
optimistic goals, the restrooms were segregated (though not obviously so as they were
unmarked) and the cafeteria was closed to African-Americans until 1963.

The siting of City Hall displays a disregard for historic precedent; it ignores the historic
formal geometries in creating public spaces. Traditionally planned public spaces exhibit
symmetry and balance and were located around and along major and minor axes. The
rectangular block of City Hall is sited on one of the two block areas originally planned
for the Civic Center at a slight angle. The original path of Basin Street was established as
the main axis across Duncan Plaza and leads directly to City Hall’s main entrance. The
library on the north side of Duncan Plaza on the corner of yet another block is located
parallel to that axis (not on it). This is the only nod to traditional site planning. Whether
the organization of the Civic Center buildings around Duncan Plaza has been successful
functionally and aesthetically is questionable, but the disregard for historic precedent is
typical of Modern architecture and the International Style.

Integrity

The exterior of City Hall is highly intact. Minor alterations include the addition of the
ramp and the large red “CITY HALL” letters in red on the front of the building. Inside
City Hall, the lobby is intact. Other existing interior character defining features were not
identified because of limited access. City Hall retains integrity of location, design,
materials, workmanship, and feeling. However the integrity of setting and association
has been compromised as the Civic Center has been negatively impacted by the recent
demolition of both the State Office Building and the Office Building Annex.
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Significance

The New Orleans City Hall is eligible under Category A as it is associated with a major
and comprehensive program of urban renewal/city redevelopment in the 1950’s that
changed the City of New Orleans. While the integrity of the Civic Center is called into
question by the demolition of two of the five buildings, the remaining buildings of the
complex, other buildings including the Federal Post Office, Union Station and the
transportation infrastructure that are all part of the 1950’s redesign of the city are still
intact. The City Hall, the first building constructed as part of the Civic Center, is arguably
the most important building of the complex as it was the location of governance of what
was intended to be the new metropolis created by the redevelopment plan.
The New Orleans City Hall is eligible under Category C as it embodies distinctive
characteristics of the International Style.

The APE has not been assessed under Criterion D

The City Hall may be eligible under Criterion B because of its association with Mayor
Morrison but more research needs to be done to evaluate this.

Prepared by: Mary Neustadter, FEMA Historic Specialist

Date: 12/16/09
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U.S. Department of Homeland Security
Federal Emergency Management Agency
Section 106 Review : Aerial View Location Map
Resource Name: New Orleans City Hall and Chevron Building

Resource Address: 1300 Perdido Street and 935 Gravier Street

Resource Coordinates: Lat: 29.9524722 N

Long: -90.076550 W

Lat: 29.9528139 N
Long: -90.0733667 W

Figure 1: APE for both the City Hall and the Chevron Building
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City Hall
1300 Perdido Street
Front entrance
to City Hall

Curtain wall of
green-tinted
windows
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City Hall
1300 Perdido Street, New Orleans, Orleans Parish
North (front)
elevation

North (front)
elevation.
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City Hall
1300 Perdido Street, New Orleans, Orleans Parish
South (rear
elevation

South (rear)
elevation
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