NEW ORLEANS — Work has begun on a $50-million housing complex in New Orleans’ Central City, a neighborhood that’s the latest focus of efforts by local redevelopment officials to clean up blight, attract new businesses and try to spark a post-Hurricane Katrina revival.
The Muses, a mix of affordable and market-rate apartments and condominiums, is seen as a cornerstone in efforts to bring back the Oretha Castle Haley Boulevard corridor nearly four years after the storm. The 11-block area, in the days of segregation, was teeming with businesses, many Jewish-owned, that catered to blacks who weren’t openly welcomed in many businesses, including along Canal Street, which essentially remains New Orleans’ Main Street.
The district later fell into disrepair — became what the head of the neighborhood business association calls “a haven for drugs and prostitution” — and today stands dotted with derelict buildings, not far from New Orleans’ downtown, its sports district and street car-lined St. Charles Avenue.
Leave a Reply