NEW ORLEANS — It’s been abandoned since Hurricane Katrina – a grim hulk in the middle of downtown New Orleans. But people who were born there, or worked there, are passionate about its place in their lives and in the city’s history.
When it was built by the state of Louisiana in 1938 – with no expense spared – Charity Hospital was a first-class medical center and an Art Deco masterpiece. The window frames were shining silver, the walls were buttery limestone, and the grand front doors gleamed in polished aluminum.
Today, Charity Hospital is showing its age from nearly 16 years of neglect. But it’s also in the early stages of a transformation. The developer, 1532 Tulane Partners, is turning the building into hundreds of apartments, medical classrooms, and retail shops.
In the course of demolishing the hospital’s interior spaces, a subcontractor is selling pieces of marble that won’t be needed in the renovation. Everything from marble sinks from the operating room, to marble pieces from the hospital chapel.
See who’s buying those marble pieces in our story above, and below you’ll see our story about the planned redevelopment.
