NEW ORLEANS (WGNO) –– The Office of Code Enforcement demolished two blighted properties Monday morning in the Tremé neighborhood.
The properties included a home on Henriette Delille and the old Harlequin Theater on North Claiborne Avenue. City officials said both properties had been vacant for years, posing a public health and safety risk. The property on Henriette Delille nearly threatened neighboring homes when a two-alarm fire broke out last month after squatters knocked over a grill.
The Harlequin Theater is one of the properties on the city’s “Dirty Dozen” list, which features the 12 most blighted properties in the city.
Louisiana law describes blighted properties as “commercial or residential premises, including lots, which have been declared vacant, uninhabitable, and hazardous.”
The city established the Office of Code Enforcement in November 2023 after residents and council members complained about blight. The office is responsible for inspecting and authorizing demolitions for substandard properties that present a risk to public health and safety.
“When we allow blight to persist in our community, we do a grave disservice to our citizens,” said New Orleans City Councilmember Eugene Green.
Director of the Office of Code Enforcement Anthony Davis said the city is committed to aggressively addressing blight. “This should be a message to anybody that’s across this city that attempts to do that is that we’re going to come after you with every single thing that we got because we don’t want that, you know, quality of life to be great for every citizen and no one’s exempt from that.”
Davis added that the city would charge the property owners for the demolition, estimating the cost of the Henriette Delille property to be between $15,000 and $35,000.
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