LSU VA hospital site (1 Viewer)

[slowmotion]

http://www.nola.com/news/index.ssf/2008/11/lsuva_shared_hospital_site_is.html
http://blog.nola.com/tpmoney/2008/11/plans_for_new_lsuva_hospital_c.html
http://www.nola.com/news/index.ssf/2008/02/plans_for_lsuva_hospital_compl.html


This has been a hot local debate lately. I was wondering what are some people thoughts on the situation.

Tearing houses down and sending people out of their homes is way too much for my conscience. Also, this seems to be riddled with some crooked politics and greediness, which I really do not want to support.

At the same time, the idea of making New Orleans a major bioscience/biomedical area would be great for the city. This city really needs to improve industry and its economy and this seems like a step forward. Biomedical industry is usually recession proof and it would be a much better direction to go for NEw Orleans. New Facilities would definitely attract better doctors and researchers from around the world.

I am pretty confused. I would love to see the comparison of the facilities between a New charity and a renovated old charity. I don't know much about the old VA hospital, so I really do not know if a new one is needed because the old one is too messed up.

 

[SeminoleMarine]

While this is a sorely needed facility, I am not sure this is the proper way to go about it or the proper place to put it. Seems like the old charity and surrounding structures could be torn down and a new facility built on its site. I don't know if that is possible or not, but it sure makes sense (to me, at least). I think that is a lot of homes and people to uproot. It may be a "bad" area, but some of those house are solid and old.

BTW, since when did Dixie brewery move downtown? I thought that area was called Mid City?

 

[Danchrism]

Everything north and east of Canal St. is considered downtown; everything south and west is considered uptown. What the rest of the world calls downtown, we refer to as the CBD.

A bit of a colloquialism, yes, but that's New Orleans for ya.

 

[neworleanshoo]

residents who live there will be fairly compensated - probably more than fairly considering the value of that property if that project was not happening.

that is not a bustling neighborhood by any means. it has been declining for decades... scores of abandoned, neglected, run-down homes. they will pay to move the 20 most architecturally significant homes to other lots in the city. i think that's a great compromise. but the vast majority of the "historic" homes that people are crying about have VERY little value other than being old.

i really think this is the best thing that could happen to that neighborhood.

 

[wpak]

One of the Hospitals in Corpus Christi is expanding and buying up all the property around there. Developers are in the act too and two apt complexes have sprouted up. The people being bought out are getting sometime twice what their land is worth. Also, the the surrounding neighborhoods have gotten a lot better. It has actually been a change for the better (trust me I live in that surrounding neighborhood).

 

[SaintsFan11]

I am for building the hospitals downtown. New Orleans needs this project DESPERATELY. Building the VA hospital at the Lindy Boggs site and renovating old Charity might be adequate, but New Orleans cannot settle for adequate.

As for the historical value of the neighborhood that will be demolished:

I'm sure that the neighborhood has historical value. I am an ardent supporter of preservation, and it pains me to see historic structures demolished. On the other hand, that neighborhood is not going to come back. I know someone who struggled to rebuild his house in that neighborhood, and my heart goes out to him, but it is still largely abandoned and the population of New Orleans isn't going to grow at such a rate that those houses will be occupied. Given the choice between not tearing down a largely delapidated neighborhood and building a hospital complex that will pour billions into the local economy, it is obvious what must be decided.

Almost everything in New Orleans is old enough to be considered historical. The city needs to strike a balance between preserving the essential and sacrificing the expendable. Without significant investment in the city, which this project promises, none of the historic buildings in New Orleans have a chance. The rest of the nation doesn't care about abandoned shotgun houses. They care about jobs and innovation.

 

[FLIPPY]

As far as the old Charity, it cannot be torn down, it's been placed on the Nat. Historic registry. To gut it, would be very costly, being that it's full of asbestos, to where the DEQ would be involved, and standards for asbestos removal will be needed, which is not very cheap....The building would have to be completely gutted and rebuilt to comply with todays standards for hospital grade enforcements.

Starting from the ground up would be the easiest and best cost affective way to build, to comply with todays JAHCO standards.

As far as making residents move, it's not the first time it's happening. When I-10 went through Metairie, residents were relocated. Matter of fact, there's a house on Oaklawn and the I-10 service road that has the relocation office sign still on it.

I'm sure building on this site will certainly boost the economy of that area, look what the Dome did for that area.

 

[Webmeistro]

I fear for the future of the Deutches Haus. That place is wonderful and deserves to be preserved.

 

[slowmotion]

As far as the old Charity, it cannot be torn down, it's been placed on the Nat. Historic registry. To gut it, would be very costly, being that it's full of asbestos, to where the DEQ would be involved, and standards for asbestos removal will be needed, which is not very cheap....The building would have to be completely gutted and rebuilt to comply with todays standards for hospital grade enforcements.

I believe I heard on wwl that the cost of renovation is little above 300mil, while the new charity would cost nearly a billion.

One interesting of note is that LSU wants FEMA to give 493mil, but the agency has unofficially only offered 150mil. Even though the site has been chosen, I can't see this being done by 2013, based off the difference in the money.

 

[FLIPPY]

I believe I heard on wwl that the cost of renovation is little above 300mil, while the new charity would cost nearly a billion.



I didn't see the report, Is it just Charity that will cost over a billion, or the whole complex, including the new V.A. hospital, and all surrounding buildings? A billion for one hospital seems pretty high, that's more than the dome cost huh?

 

[slowmotion]

I didn't see the report, Is it just Charity that will cost over a billion, or the whole complex, including the new V.A. hospital, and all surrounding buildings? A billion for one hospital seems pretty high, that's more than the dome cost huh?

I think so. I got it from this paragraph:

Yet LSU and the VA remain apart in one critical respect. Congress has fully financed the new veterans hospital, but LSU is still scrambling to piece together nearly a billion dollars for its half of the project. That financing gap means the VA portion could proceed faster.

I think what the article is trying to say is the cost is nearly a billion, LSU has raised about half of it, and is asking FEMA to basically pay the other half ($493mil).

 

[slowmotion]

If anybody is interested... here is an update of the Mid-city preservationist versus the LSU med system battle that is going on over the proposed site for the New hospital:

http://www.nola.com/news/index.ssf/2009/02/_tempers_flare_over.html

After months of relatively quiet planning for a new academic medical complex in New Orleans, the temperature is rising between Louisiana State University System officials and opponents of the school's proposed site in lower Mid-City.

LSU leaders say they are reacting to what they characterize as misinformation and cheap shots by preservationists and other opponents of the proposed complex.

"It's going to be tough to get this project built; it's always been tough," LSU spokesman Charlie Zewe said. "And we are frankly sick and tired of people trying to define us as secretive, mean-spirited and focused only on the aggrandizement of the institution. .¤.¤. We're simply not going to stand for it any more."

 

[FLIPPY]

Slowmo,

I was surprised to see this thread pop up again, and no one responding to it....I know it sucks to relocated people from their homes; however, that neighborhood needs a serious boost..It's nice to see some of the new structures going up on Tulane Ave, but that area close to Claiborne is a dump and needs a major project done for revitalization, and this is the thing...

 

[slowmotion]

Slowmo,

I was surprised to see this thread pop up again, and no one responding to it....I know it sucks to relocated people from their homes; however, that neighborhood needs a serious boost..It's nice to see some of the new structures going up on Tulane Ave, but that area close to Claiborne is a dump and needs a major project done for revitalization, and this is the thing...

Well I am a little biased being that I go to school here. I would love to stay in New orleans after I graduate, and a New hospital would definitely be enticing. Mid City needs some growth and I agree the new hospital would help a great deal.

I would love to know the number of people living on the land of the proposed site and also the state of these historic properties the preservationist are talking about. I want to also know what are their plans with this piece of land if they are willing to go so far as to stop this incredible project. If they are going to keep it as is, I don't understand the point.

Honestly, alot of very intelligent Louisiana raised and educated graduates would be much more inclined to stay if this hospital were built. Because I go to school here, we periodically get updates on the new hospital and it is going to be absolutely state of the art and could probably be one of the most top of the line facilities in the world. In addition it will bring in a very economically stable biomedical field to the New Orleans economy. I'm hoping it works out.

 

[RJ in Lafayette]

The greatest threat to the stock of historical buildings in the city is economic lassitude. No jobs, no bucks. No bucks, buildings deteriorate and neighborhoods decline.