NEW ORLEANS (WGNO) — Additional steps are being taken to secure the former Lindy Boggs Medical Center in Mid-City.
On Tuesday, crews began installing steel window coverings to prevent intruders from entering the former hospital.
Some neighbors witnessed New Orleans police officers performing a sweep of the grounds before work began.
“I guess from a neighborhood standpoint, you probably don’t want people who aren’t paying rent walking and living in a building and doing different things, whatever the case may be, but at the same time, there is another side of humility, I think a side of morality that comes into place because these people aren’t living here because they have anywhere else to go,” Mid-City resident Deeuatrail Nichols, Jr., said.
Last month, members of the Mid-city Neighborhood Organization voiced their concerns about criminal activity happening inside the vacant building, and the group is hoping new window protectors will deter most unlawful visitors.
“In the advent of parkour and people being ingenious and breaking and entering, especially if you’re in the streets, you learn how to get into empty buildings, that there’s enough to keep them from easy access, and we’ll go from there,” said Thomas Ecker, the president of the Mid-City Neighborhood Organization.
The president of Woodward Interests, the company overseeing project development, Bill Hoffman, says the installation will take about two weeks.
“Then, we’ll monitor the building and see if it’s working like we think it’ll work, and if there’s any possibility that people are still getting into it, then we’ll see what else is recommended by the security people,” Hoffman explained.
Mid-City neighbors say they are cautiously optimistic about the site’s future.
“Words or words, action is action, and we’re going to see what type of action we’re going to get from this point on,” Ecker said.
According to Hoffman, his team is still awaiting a response from the Department of Housing and Urban Development about their waiver request regarding financing for the project.
He remains confident the project will be moving forward.
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