Blitzzzzz
03-29-2008, 05:00 PM
Looks like another tragic/comic blow to the National Jazz Park! With homes in the surrounding neighborhood now topping 300K, they better get moving before someone decides a condo tower is a better use of the land!:cool:
Jazz Park opening pushed back
by Leslie Williams, The Times-Picayune Friday March 28, 2008, 8:23 PM
At the close of 2007, John Quirk, who has been shepherding the development of the New Orleans Jazz National Historical Park, could see the finish line. A "soft" opening of a circa-1820 building being refurbished to house half a million dollars worth of jazz exhibits appeared to be only a few months away.
Quirk confidently forecast a March opening of the three-acre national park inside the 32-acre Armstrong Park.
But instead of a brass band welcoming visitors this week, the only noise -- celebratory or otherwise -- came from squawking ducks enjoying a sunny day as they paddled in Armstrong Park's avocado-colored lagoons. And that won't change anytime soon.
Workers recently discovered a multitude of roof-related problems as they approached the March deadline.
"It looks now like the soft opening will not come until September, barring any more unforeseen circumstances," said a somewhat discouraged Quirk.
It is the second major delay of the National Park Service project that Quirk believes can become the city's nexus for all things jazz: a place to be introduced to jazz, to learn its history, to listen to it and to get information about where to hear authentic jazz around town. In October 2006, National Park Service officials announced with fanfare that the New Orleans Jazz National Historical Park would open in the spring of 2007.
Workers were dismantling Perseverance Hall's slate roof when they discovered dry rot and moisture-damaged rafters, degraded mortar in brickwork supporting the roof and old termite damage throughout the roof's deck, rafters and joists.
"The roof replacement budget was $234,000. The structural repairs drove the cost up to $470,000," Quirk said. "And it took considerable time to secure additional funding, and even longer to re-scope and award the amended contract."
In the meantime a heavy-duty tarp over the top of the building was not enough to suppress mold development throughout the building and possibly into the new air-conditioning system and ducts, Quirk said.
The National Park Service is looking for money within its budget for emergency mold remediation, he said.
Much of the work necessary to finish the more than $1 million Perseverance Hall project cannot be started until the roof and mold are taken care of, said Quirk, who has a second substantial concern: flooding.
City spokesman James Ross II said in December that work to refurbish the lagoons that wind through Armstrong Park "should begin in a few weeks." Ross said the work is part of about $3.5 million of improvements scheduled at Armstrong Park. The city hired Materials Management Group of Algiers to clean the lagoons, he said.
However, the lagoons still have not been cleaned or refurbished; they remain "putrid," Quirk said.
After heavy rains in February, the lagoons spilled over and flooded the bases of at least 12 of the 30 new lampposts installed in the jazz complex area, he said.
"The warranty on the new lampposts we installed is void because they were repeatedly flooded by the lagoon overflow," Quirk said. "Since we have not powered them I don't know if this is significant. Regardless, we will have to absorb the loss of the warranty."
An electrical junction box near the lagoons also was flooded, said Manuel Duran-Duran, a preservation architect with Keystone Restoration Inc. in Miami who is supervising repairs to Perseverance Hall.
Entergy has not provided power to the box yet, "but you don't want to mix those two things," Duran-Duran said.
Pumps that force water out of the lagoons during heavy rain no longer work.
Workers need to remove wildlife -- turtles, ducks and fish -- from the area. Sediment needs to be hauled away.
The water has to be pumped out, debris in the lagoons removed, and the concrete liner and electric pumps in a sealed vault below the water inspected, said Ralph Thayer, director of the city's Office of Federal, State Reimbursement Assistance. If the pumps that aerate and circulate the water are damaged, they must be replaced, Thayer said. Additional work may be required if the lagoon's concrete liners have been damaged.
On Tuesday, Big Shot plastic bottles, plastic snack bags, plastic foam cups and plates, black plastic garbage bags, a metal drum and potato chip bags mixed with dark green stagnant water.
Paul Lo, president of Materials Management Group, said he received authority from the city this week to start cleaning the lagoons. He said he hopes to begin in three or four weeks and have the project completed before the end of April.
The wildlife will be permanently moved to City Park, Lo said. The scope of the work is limited to draining the lagoons and removing the sediment and wildlife, he said. If it turns out that the pumps are not functional, someone else will handle that, Lo said.
Leslie Williams can be reached at lwilliams@timespicayune.com o
Jazz Park opening pushed back
by Leslie Williams, The Times-Picayune Friday March 28, 2008, 8:23 PM
At the close of 2007, John Quirk, who has been shepherding the development of the New Orleans Jazz National Historical Park, could see the finish line. A "soft" opening of a circa-1820 building being refurbished to house half a million dollars worth of jazz exhibits appeared to be only a few months away.
Quirk confidently forecast a March opening of the three-acre national park inside the 32-acre Armstrong Park.
But instead of a brass band welcoming visitors this week, the only noise -- celebratory or otherwise -- came from squawking ducks enjoying a sunny day as they paddled in Armstrong Park's avocado-colored lagoons. And that won't change anytime soon.
Workers recently discovered a multitude of roof-related problems as they approached the March deadline.
"It looks now like the soft opening will not come until September, barring any more unforeseen circumstances," said a somewhat discouraged Quirk.
It is the second major delay of the National Park Service project that Quirk believes can become the city's nexus for all things jazz: a place to be introduced to jazz, to learn its history, to listen to it and to get information about where to hear authentic jazz around town. In October 2006, National Park Service officials announced with fanfare that the New Orleans Jazz National Historical Park would open in the spring of 2007.
Workers were dismantling Perseverance Hall's slate roof when they discovered dry rot and moisture-damaged rafters, degraded mortar in brickwork supporting the roof and old termite damage throughout the roof's deck, rafters and joists.
"The roof replacement budget was $234,000. The structural repairs drove the cost up to $470,000," Quirk said. "And it took considerable time to secure additional funding, and even longer to re-scope and award the amended contract."
In the meantime a heavy-duty tarp over the top of the building was not enough to suppress mold development throughout the building and possibly into the new air-conditioning system and ducts, Quirk said.
The National Park Service is looking for money within its budget for emergency mold remediation, he said.
Much of the work necessary to finish the more than $1 million Perseverance Hall project cannot be started until the roof and mold are taken care of, said Quirk, who has a second substantial concern: flooding.
City spokesman James Ross II said in December that work to refurbish the lagoons that wind through Armstrong Park "should begin in a few weeks." Ross said the work is part of about $3.5 million of improvements scheduled at Armstrong Park. The city hired Materials Management Group of Algiers to clean the lagoons, he said.
However, the lagoons still have not been cleaned or refurbished; they remain "putrid," Quirk said.
After heavy rains in February, the lagoons spilled over and flooded the bases of at least 12 of the 30 new lampposts installed in the jazz complex area, he said.
"The warranty on the new lampposts we installed is void because they were repeatedly flooded by the lagoon overflow," Quirk said. "Since we have not powered them I don't know if this is significant. Regardless, we will have to absorb the loss of the warranty."
An electrical junction box near the lagoons also was flooded, said Manuel Duran-Duran, a preservation architect with Keystone Restoration Inc. in Miami who is supervising repairs to Perseverance Hall.
Entergy has not provided power to the box yet, "but you don't want to mix those two things," Duran-Duran said.
Pumps that force water out of the lagoons during heavy rain no longer work.
Workers need to remove wildlife -- turtles, ducks and fish -- from the area. Sediment needs to be hauled away.
The water has to be pumped out, debris in the lagoons removed, and the concrete liner and electric pumps in a sealed vault below the water inspected, said Ralph Thayer, director of the city's Office of Federal, State Reimbursement Assistance. If the pumps that aerate and circulate the water are damaged, they must be replaced, Thayer said. Additional work may be required if the lagoon's concrete liners have been damaged.
On Tuesday, Big Shot plastic bottles, plastic snack bags, plastic foam cups and plates, black plastic garbage bags, a metal drum and potato chip bags mixed with dark green stagnant water.
Paul Lo, president of Materials Management Group, said he received authority from the city this week to start cleaning the lagoons. He said he hopes to begin in three or four weeks and have the project completed before the end of April.
The wildlife will be permanently moved to City Park, Lo said. The scope of the work is limited to draining the lagoons and removing the sediment and wildlife, he said. If it turns out that the pumps are not functional, someone else will handle that, Lo said.
Leslie Williams can be reached at lwilliams@timespicayune.com o