Louisiana Cultural Vistas - Winter 2005-2006 - (Page 31)

The Lenfant family operated a popular drive-in restaurant, Lenfant’s, in a Streamline Moderne structure known for its unique architecture and the lobster dressed as a waiter on its exterior sign. Located on Canal Boulevard near the cemeteries in the neighborhood called Lakeview, patrons could dine in their cars in its oyster-shell parking lot, or eat inside near the huge bar. A pick-up window in the rear allowed customers to take their meals home. Lenfant’s closed in the 1970s, and owners tried to make a comeback with the property as a disco in the 1980s. It is now the site of All Faiths Funeral Home. Since the 1960s and 1970s, as the forces of preservation and “progress” in New Orleans have engaged in ongoing battles, many landmarks have disappeared, yet many have been preserved. The city, as in the past, continues to evolve. For example, the 1984 World’s Fair preserved much of the endangered warehouse district, creating the foundation for the 21st century’s flourishing Warehouse Arts District, including its Museum District. In this area, projects such as The Ogden Museum of Southern Art have combined new construction (Stephen Goldring Hall, 2003) with the preservation of a landmark structure (Henry Hobson Richardson’s Howard Memorial Library of 1889, now known as the Patrick F. Taylor Library). Nearby, museums and cultural institutions including the Contemporary Arts Center, the National D-Day Museum, the Louisiana Children’s Museum and the Louisiana ArtWorks have incorporated new or adaptive reuse projects with extensive historic preservation endeavors. The Cabildo, one of the iconic symbols of historic Jackson Square, which was heavily damaged by a disastrous fire in 1988, was restored and hosted celebrations for the bicentennial of the Louisiana Purchase in 2003. Next door, historic St. Louis Cathedral has undergone extensive exterior renovations. Nearby, after years of preservation and adaptive reuse planning, the Supreme Court Building reopened in 2004. Not far away, on Canal Street, the Customs House, where original construction was supervised by Thomas Wharton in the 1850s, is undergoing major restoration and conversion to serve as a new museum complex operated by the Audubon Nature Institute. As Phillip Collier’s book clearly indicates, and as a tour of the parking lots of downtown and the surrounding districts suggests, much has been lost in New Orleans. While much of the city’s historic fabric remains, many of its most important sites have been sacrificed. Current preservation projects across the city seem to suggest an enhanced awareness and appreciation of the city’s unique culture and history. LCV Excerpted with permission from Phillip Collier’s Missing New Orleans, a collaborative book project of designer Phillip Collier, writers J. Richard Gruber, Jim Rapier, and Mary Beth Romig, and photographer David Rae Morris, published by the Ogden Museum of Southern Art in New Orleans. For more information on the book and to purchase copies, contact The Ogden Museum of Southern Art at (504) 539-9625 or log on to www.missingneworleans.com. Phillip Collier was born in Wetumpka, Alabama and grew up in nearby Montgomery. He moved to New Orleans to work as a freelance illustrator, art and creative director, before establishing his own firm, Phillip Collier Designs, in 1990. Local clients include Arthur Roger Gallery, Louisiana Philharmonic Orchestra, Louisiana ArtWorks, Mignon Faget and TABASCO®. J. Richard Gruber, Ph.D., was appointed Director of the Ogden Museum of Southern Art in 1999. His other books and art catalogs include Thomas Hart Benton and the American South; American Icons; and From Madison to Manhattan: The Art of Benny Matthews. Winter 2005-06/LOUISIANA CULTURAL VISTAS 31 http://www.missingneworleans.com

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Louisiana Cultural Vistas - Winter 2005-2006

Louisiana Cultural Vistas - Winter 2005 Contents Letters Editor’s Column Louisiana Endowment for the Humanities Louisiana State Museum After Katrina: “It’s time somebody woke us us up.” Missing New Orleans On Perilous Ground The Buildings of Louisiana (Architectural History by Karen Kingsley) Historic New Orleans Collection Louisiana Association of Museums Back to New Orleans Diary of a Displaced Person Jazz Notes (Music History by Bruce Raeburn) Cradle of the Stars The Terrible and the Brave Bookstand (Book Review by Thomas Uskali) Sound Advice (Music Review by Ben Sandmel) Forum (Commentary by James Lee Burke)

Louisiana Cultural Vistas - Winter 2005-2006

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