Mayor LaToya Cantrell making new attempt to revive New Orleans Municipal Auditorium

Mayor LaToya Cantrell is making another run at reviving the Municipal Auditorium.

A year after a coalition of neighborhood groups scuttled Cantrell’s plans to turn the dilapidated, nearly century-old building into a new City Hall, the administration issued a formal request Wednesday for a contractor to fix the roof, replace broken doors and windows, repair water damage and undertake other jobs in a new push to bring the auditorium back to life.

The work will be paid for with $37 million in FEMA money the city received in 2018, after years of fighting with the agency over how much the federal government should pay to repair damage due to Hurricane Katrina.

The Municipal Auditorium

PHOTO BY MAX BECHERER / THE TIMES-PICAYUNE

Formally known as the Morris F.X. Jeff Auditorium, the once-prized community asset that hosted concerts, Carnival balls and other events has turned into an emblem of failed public policy in the middle of Louis Armstrong Park.

It looked set to remain that way after a broad outcry in 2021 over concerns that moving City Hall there would intrude on Congo Square. Faced with protests and City Council ordinances preventing action on the building, Cantrell pulled the plug on her plan and challenged community advocates to come up with their own. 

Protestors meet at Congo Square to listen to speakers before marching against the proposed move of City Hall to the Municipal Auditorium in New Orleans, Thursday, June 17, 2021. (Photo by Sophia Germer, NOLA.com, The Times-Picayune | The New Orleans Advocate)

STAFF PHOTO BY SOPHIA GERMER Working with the community

City spokesperson Gregory Joseph said that in the year since, the administration has started working with the community groups organized under the banner of the nonprofit Save Our Soul Coalition who opposed the City Hall relocation plan.

The request for qualifications is the first step in a bigger project, he said. Before the end of the year, Cantrell plans to seek proposals for a master developer who could turn the auditorium and surrounding grounds into a multi-use entertainment, educational, commercial and cultural venue.

New Orleans City Hall Friday, Nov. 1, 2019.

STAFF PHOTO BY DAVID GRUNFELD

The Save Our Soul Coalition floated the idea of a cultural and entertainment center in the heat of the City Hall controversy. In the months since, the group has been working on the broad outlines of its vision, according to coalition president Jackie Harris.

It has also been meeting with the city to develop a cooperative endeavor agreement that would essentially guarantee the coalition a seat at the table in any future planning efforts.

Jerné Barra dances with a sign during the protest march against the proposed move of City Hall to the Municipal Auditorium in New Orleans, Thursday, June 17, 2021. (Photo by Sophia Germer, NOLA.com, The Times-Picayune | The New Orleans Advocate)

STAFF PHOTO BY SOPHIA GERMER

Protestors second line back to Congo Square after marching to City Hall during the protest against the proposed move of City Hall to the Municipal Auditorium in New Orleans, Thursday, June 17, 2021. (Photo by Sophia Germer, NOLA.com, The Times-Picayune | The New Orleans Advocate)

STAFF PHOTO BY SOPHIA GERMER

Harris said her group is pleased the city is finally moving forward on fixing the auditorium, though she said that the coalition was not informed until early this week of the plans to solicit contractors to make the needed repairs.

“I would not say we are upset but we are disappointed that we did not have an opportunity to see or even discuss what the plans are for remediation,” she said. “It would seem whatever renovations and repair work they do will have some bearing on the future redevelopment plans.”

Long overdue work

Municipal Auditorium in New Orleans, La. Friday, Nov. 1, 2019.

STAFF PHOTO BY DAVID GRUNFELD

The city’s request for qualifications issued Wednesday asks for architectural and engineering services for remediation and repair work to the building, which has sustained as much damage due to neglect and vandalism in the 17 years since Katrina as it did due the flood.

Much of the work outlined in the bid solicitation was identified by the city years ago, when it first pursued FEMA grant funds to cover the cost of the repairs. It includes nearly two dozen items, among them: assessing the building’s existing condition, demolishing damaged elements, fixing the roof, replacing windows and doors, repairing damage from water infiltration, renovating restrooms and replacing the heating and air-conditioning system. 

The city will select an architecture and engineering team in early December, with work expected to begin in the weeks to follow.  The clock will be ticking.

Under the terms of the FEMA grant, the repairs must be substantially completed by mid-2023, though not all the money has to be spent by then, Joseph said.

Years of neglect

Paint peels inside the Municipal Auditorium in New Orleans, La. Tuesday, March 28, 2017. The City of New Orleans began installing metal sheet barricades on doors and windows to secure the Municipal Auditorium from homeless people and other trespassers. The building has been vacant since 2005 after the federal levee failures from Hurricane Katrina and the city is still in negotiations with FEMA for money to restore the building.

Advocate staff photo by MATTHEW HINTON

The lack of repairs to the auditorium — and the growing damage to the building — has been a longstanding issue that didn’t return to center stage until Cantrell’s plan to relocate City Hall to the site became public. 

While temporary repairs were made in the immediate aftermath of Katrina, a report on the damage wasn’t submitted to FEMA until 2012. By 2015, the city was calling for $89 million in FEMA funds to repair the building. FEMA offered to pay less than half that amount, arguing that much of the damage was due to the years of neglect after the flood. 

Bits of the collapsing ceiling litter seats inside the Municipal Auditorium in New Orleans, La. Tuesday, March 28, 2017. The City of New Orleans began installing metal sheet barricades on doors and windows to secure the Municipal Auditorium from homeless people and other trespassers. The building has been vacant since 2005 after the federal levee failures from Hurricane Katrina and the city is still in negotiations with FEMA for money to restore the building.

Advocate staff photo by MATTHEW HINTON

In 2018, an arbitration panel eventually settled the matter, with the two sides agreeing on a $38 million payment.

By then, Cantrell was in office and saw the federal money as an opportunity to refurbish the building and get a new location for City Hall.

Opposition grew quickly, particularly from nearby residents and organizations who argued the move would infringe on the park’s Congo Square and betray the cultural history of the site.

The controversy culminated in December when the City Council passed a series of measures that created a new definition for a “City Hall” within the city’s zoning laws and essentially restricted where such a building could be constructed.

Multi-use space

The Save Our Soul Coalition has developed project plans, but declined to share a printed document of its vision, saying they were still preliminary.

But Harris said the group envisions several elements for the space, including a museum, a small performance venue and a marketplace for local vendors and small businesses.

“There could also be an education component and something like a supper club, reminiscent of the Blue Room in the Roosevelt,” Harris said. “We want a place where all citizens of New Orleans, and especially  the people of Treme, are at home.”