LETTERS READ: The Nature of Property Ownership, and the Origins of Felicity Redevelopment

LETTERS READ

Sunday November 25, 2018
3:30 to 5:00pm
St. John the Baptist Catholic Church
1139 Oretha Castle Haley Blvd.
New Orleans, LA.

Twenty years ago, a Northshore, LA developer worked with New Orleans Mayor Morial, two City Council members and two Central City clergymen to demolish a 4-square city block area between St. Mary and Polymnia streets, Baronne and an altered Carondelet Streets. What was planned to replace historic, architecturally important homes was a suburban strip mall-style Albertsons grocery store more than 60,000 square feet large. Two of the four city blocks were planned to become a parking lot.

Locals and preservationists were in an uproar and a grand fight ensued.

This is the story of why and how Felicity Redevelopment began and how two women stopped the Albertsons project from being built.

Mack C. Guillory III, emcee.
Grace Kennedy, reader.
Jeremy J. Webber, audio engineer.
Jeffrey B. Goodman, urban planning consultant.
Kure Croker, information consultant.

Thanks to the generous support of Dorian Bennett and Felicity Redevelopment, Inc, the script for this event was recorded live in the vault of Crescent City Books.