Demolition of abandoned Lindy Boggs hospital moves closer with new timeline

NEW ORLEANS (WVUE) - The effort to demolish the abandoned former Lindy Boggs Medical Center in Mid-City is moving forward. One New Orleans City Council member says work could begin as early as this spring.

The hospital, which has sat vacant since Hurricane Katrina, has been a rotting scene of ongoing vandalism, trespassing and decay. Owner Woodward Interests says demolition could begin this fall, if not sooner.

New Orleans City Council member Lesli Harris said the start of demolition depends on the signing of a public-private partnership agreement.

“We’re looking forward to demolition beginning in the spring,” Harris said. “We expect the developers to put in their share of the money to get demolition started.”

Harris said the project is also aimed at reducing blight in the surrounding area.

“Part of it is making sure there is no blight anymore. There is blocks and blocks of blight,” she said.

Last fall, voters approved the dedication of bond money for city infrastructure, drainage and stormwater management projects. Jeff Schwartz, director of the Office of Housing and Community Development for the City of New Orleans, said more than $11 million from that bond measure is earmarked for the Lindy Boggs project.

“Six million is in the drainage bucket and $5.5 million is in the infrastructure bucket. That’s just balancing some of the different scopes of work,” Schwartz said.

Schwartz said the building’s basement will be used for stormwater management, capable of holding up to 2.5 million gallons of water. He said Woodward is considering a mixed-use development on the site with a percentage of affordable housing units.

Harris said the $100 million project will spur economic growth.

“Getting the property back on the tax rolls, not only from the developer’s standpoint, but the standpoint of sales taxes, as well from the retail aspect of it,” Harris said.

Residents in the area expressed mixed views on the demolition. New Orleans resident Adia Holt said she supports tearing down the structure.

“It’s about time, because it’s an eyesore to the community. It’s been there since Katrina that they haven’t done anything to it, and it looks horrible,” Holt said.

New Orleans resident William Martin, who said he served on a board with Lindy Boggs, said he would prefer the site not be demolished but hopes any future development benefits the community.

“I think it would mean a lot to her family if they wouldn’t demolish it. I think it would mean a lot to the people that came up in that time that knew Lindy Boggs, that knew of her and what she represented and how much she knew and loved this city,” Martin said.

Martin added that he would not oppose redevelopment if it serves the public good.

“If we’re going to do something useful with it that we can still use it so the community can profit from it and the state can profit from it for good reasons, I don’t see anything wrong,” he said.

Bill Hoffmann of Woodward Design said the project is still in the preliminary stages of planning. He is scheduled to meet with Mid-City residents for an update Monday at 6:30 p.m. at Warren Easton High School.

See a spelling or grammar error in our story? Click Here to report it. Please include the headline.

Subscribe to the Fox 8 YouTube channel.