Spring Greening

Historic Green in Eco-Structure Magazine

Check out Historic Green featured in Eco-Structure Magazine here.  Historic Green Chair and Co-founder Jeremy Knoll is interviewed about HG discussing why we exists and where we are going. 

What next?

It is so difficult to care so much about a place and only be able to see or affect such a small portion of it at a time. Today as Sarah and I drove around to check on the final state of our project sites she pointed out a teenager walking towards the Delery playground, and told me that he had come to the Village almost every day asking if we had any food. "He seemed so sad everytime we didn't" – how can I not be moved by that... Just one person's story in this amazing community: an American kid who could be easily trained for a lifelong building, culinary, computer or other professional trade. Idle and hungry today. It is really difficult to keep focused in this environment, when the need is so great and multifaceted...multi-faced. Is 11 days of work enough? Hardly. How can this and other efforts grow and network to create the comprehensive transformation that many are dying, or at least resigning, without?

Historic Green: Week 1

ALL PHOTOS: Nicolette Mueller

Updates from Dauphine Street

Last year we worked on three houses at 5200, 5116 and 5115 Dauphine Street. The work continued well after Historic Green was over so here are photo updates from Pam Bryan at the Preservation Resource Center (PRC) in New Orleans. PRC was our partner in the projects. 5200 Dauphine is slated to be the new home for the CSED, while 5115 Dauphine and 5116 Dauphine will be up for sale in the near future.
Above left is an interior of 5115, taken from the front shop looking towards the rear of the house. Above right is a view of the house from the corner of Dauphine and Lizardi streets. Below is a view of the rear of the house.

Above is the front of 5116. Below left is a picture of the interior looking through the front window. And below right is a picture of the new bracket common to this style of shotgun.
Below is the 5200 Dauphine site, which will feature the new home of the Center for Sustainable Engagement & Development (CSED).

Katrina is Katharos, meaning “pure”

Text and Photos by John Hanson

The Greek root of the name Katrina is Katharos, meaning “pure”. A new friend from New Orleans, Hal Collums told me this the morning I left after my week working with Historic Green. His family lost every material possession they owned on August 29, 2005, and he talks about the aftereffects in an oddly reverential tone. The immediate impact of the hurricane on the city was the flood of polluted black water that fouled the city grid for weeks afterwards. The longer term effect has been a catharsis, weirdly foretold in the storm’s name. The water itself had a purgative effect, wiping whole neighborhoods clean of possessions, homes, and infrastructure. An even greater power has come from the emotional context of the word, first used by Aristotle to describe the effect of Greek tragedies and acutely felt by many of the residents of the city who have returned. For these individuals, adversity and loss has morphed into something much larger, creating an abiding sense of place and purpose. (I am still here and what does not kill me can only make me stronger.)

Heading to New Orleans to meet my daughter Morgan for a week of working together, I had some of the iconic images in my head; the swirling vortex in the satellite images from before the storm and the broken levees and rooftop rescues of thousands in its aftermath. What I did not have was the proper sense of scale. It’s not until you drive through the neighborhoods and see block after block of empty houses, each with its own special FEMA graffiti, and piles of two and a half year old trash, and most importantly, until you meet the people, that you get a sense of the sheer magnitude and unrelenting toll. When you meet the people and hear their stories, you become a witness to an unwanted life altering event, whose effects will be felt by generations of residents. As the water receded and the rainwater eventually removed the scum below the high water marks, what was left was a place effectively scoured (like the levees themselves) of much of its past, a black chalkboard freshly sponged, still waiting for a diagram of its future. The few people who have returned are determined to create a picture of a better place, despite being hampered by the enormity and complexity of the possible solutions.

Mack McClendon is the first resident I met in the Holy Cross neighborhood where we were working:

He bought a dilapidated industrial building after the storm, named it The Village and has poured all his resources into creating a community center there, because in his mind “it will only make sense to fix up my house after I have a neighborhood.” His vision for the space includes everything from a commercial kitchen and musician’s studio, to a computer lab and a basketball court. Meanwhile he returns to his FEMA trailer every day, and its only two redeeming features (“you get up early, and you work late”). He said it took him about five months to shed his bitterness after the storm and now he just wants to build his dreams.

John Smith (Smitty) talks without prompting about Greek tragedy:

A scholar and philosopher who grew up in the lower ninth, he returned to his roots in NOLA after leaving for much of his adult life to be an accountant and community activist in Chicago. He purchased a house in June 2005, three months before the storm, and has yet to move back in. Now he does a daily regime of yoga, and with prompting from Mack, serves up oral history of the Lower Ninth for visitors. History that for many families has been wiped and scattered to parts unknown.

John Taylor also grew up in the Lower Ninth Ward:

He left just hours before the storm ravaged his entire neighborhood, after his brother came for him and said “it’s time to go”. He talks wistfully about his childhood, and the now dead bayou that was his playground, and yet is one of the ten percent who has returned to that area. He will never leave there because of his deep ties to the land, but he understands the issues which are that the vast majority of his former neighbors never will return, and with good reason.

And lastly Hal and Paula Collums:

Hal commandeered a motor boat after the storm and drove through the city over the cars and street signs, hauling it over two levees and various other obstacles, only to discover his house under eight feet of water. He left empty handed then, and again after returning in denial days later, groping for some scrap of his former life. Shortly after that, while trying to get his company back in business, a volunteer from Illinois arrived at the door of his trailer, replying to a help wanted ad on Craig’s List. A former corporate exec, he now lives in NOLA and has been instrumental in helping to transform Hal’s business. After losing everything they had, Collums Construction has grown to four times the size it was before the storm, Hal and Paula have a new house, a new office and cabinet shop, and a sense of urgency, measured by just the right amount of calmness and presence.

Two and a half years later, New Orleans is still processing the impact of this catastrophe, hampered by a shocking depletion of leadership and resources. Despite heavy reliance on the FEMA trailers and the National Guard, both are scheduled for removal by the end of Summer. Blame that on the poisonous formaldehyde in the trailers, and the depletion of military resources caused by war. A recent city program offering free hauling of household and construction debris added a bloom of new trash piles throughout various neighborhoods that were still waiting to be cleared when I left. It’s a city that has been let down by every imaginable institution: federal, state and local government, insurance companies and banks, and perhaps worst of all, profiteers masquerading as reputable businesses, whose sole purpose was to steal money from those in desperate need.

All of which made the time we spent there so compelling. An event like Katrina exposes the frailty of the human condition, but it also unleashes new expression and potential within some of the greatest sufferers. Add to that the spirit of volunteerism and you get a powerful cocktail. Many volunteers felt like I did that we were able to accomplish very little. And yet any feeling of inadequacy is muted by the gratitude and passion coming from those in need. The efforts of volunteers, more than any other aid, has provided the greatest source of hope for a meaningful recovery in New Orleans. Hal’s wife, Paula, told Morgan and I that during the first months after the storm, there was an unrepressible sadness in the city’s residents as they lived through the enormity of events. Whenever she and other friends encountered a volunteer pitching in somewhere, they would involuntarily break into tears, as if to just say thanks for witnessing our struggle. Two and a half years later, the roots of their emotion is very clear.

See you next time.

Footnote:
A tremendous effort went into the preparation for this event. Emerging Green Builders of Kansas City along with the rest of the group of loosely connected individuals deserves a heaping crawfish boil of credit. Jeremy Curt and Ryan continue to show amazing devotion to the ongoing efforts to revitalize Holy Cross. Mo and I were proud to be a part of it.

Favorite Projects and Wrap-Up

I can’t believe that Historic Green 2008 is over! I’ve had 2 weeks to recover, and still can’t believe it!

Curt, Ryan, Dave, and I gave a quick slide-show to the Kansas City EGB last week. It is just amazing to see even a part of the full scope of what our volunteers accomplished. There are 2 moments in particular that I am most proud of:

1. The Bell. Thanks to Curt’s and Tristain’s tireless and sweaty efforts, the long forgotten bell at the Greater Little Zion Church now rings again! When we learned about the discovery of this bell (by the Alliance for Affordable Energy’s great Americorps volunteers) in January, it became increasingly important project to us to see accomplished. On our last Thursday night, Reverend Scie made the announcement to a packed audience of residents that every family returned to their home will be invited to ring the bell in celebration. It was so fulfilling to see something so symbolic and meaningful – just a simple sound – returned to the neighborhood as a result of the combined efforts of so many hands and minds.

2. Mr. Smith’s home. During the first week, Henry Smith pulled up to the Village as I was going to close the gate for the day. He asked if I could help him get his house painted, and I asked him to register with the Center for Sustainable Engagement & Development so he could get onto our list.

Sure enough, one week later, we were able to send him 6 volunteers. About an hour into the morning, another 14 volunteers showed up to help. I ran around and got more water, eye-protections, dust masks, scrapers, and ladders. So with 20 volunteers working on one historic home, they started asking me about the soft spots they were finding in the wood siding. “Should we really be refinishing these? They seem like they’re rotted,” one volunteer informed me. The next morning, 2 volunteers measured every piece of siding that needed to be removed. Once completed, I delivered one of them to the Dauphine project sites, where he cut recovered (deconstructed) siding from another historic structure, which volunteers then installed on Henry’s home and painted like new! This would not have been possible to accomplish without taking the large-scope of projects on as we did.

I can tell that our organizers and volunteers are ready to begin planning for 2009 right away! We’ve taken it easy for the past couple of weeks, allowing us time to recover and catch up at class and jobs. I’m both excited and a little overwhelmed with the idea of creating an even larger vision to take on moving forward. I really hope our core committee grows to a point where this feels more manageable – there were several times leading up to this year’s event that felt pretty lonely (and very overwhelming!) to our small band of coordinators. We muscled through and made miracles and magic happen – but miracles and magic are exhausting, and don’t come easy!

The Third Place

Why do I have such a connection and tie to New Orleans? My parents, in their late 1970’s dharma bum-ish way, hitchhiked across the U.S., and my mom was pregnant with me when they got to New Orleans. Maybe that’s why. Maybe it is because I read so much (and still do) and truly loved anything I could get my hands on that had to do with New Orleans, be it Anne Rice or Christopher Rice or A Confederacy of Dunces. We had a big beautiful Mardi Gras print in above the piano in our living room. All my friends were shocked because it was so racy!

When I was in college, my Urban Studies advisor, and one of my favorite people, Tony Filipovitch, taught a class on the theory of place and how it is generally accepted that there are two types of places. The first is the home – the private place, your personal sanctuary. The second is the workplace – the public place, where you do your business. But there’s another place, called, not surprisingly, the third place – that intersection of public and private, but where you still feel a sense of ownership. So your neighborhood coffee shop, and it’s your favorite wine bar where the bartender knows what you’re going to order, the park where you take your dog, or go to read your book on your lunch break – those are your third places. It is talked about in great detail in Ray Oldenburg’s book The Great Good Place.

For me, New Orleans is my third place. All of it.. Whatever it is that brings me to New Orleans, I feel that sense of ownership and a sense of pride from the people who live there and the food and the music to the architecture and the history.

I think it takes a special sort of person to live in NOLA. I don’t think there are a lot of people as tied to their home city like New Orleanians are. Certainly not so much in the Twin Cities. And I love it in Minneapolis, and I can see that I’ll always live here part of the time, but I am seriously considering a seasonal move to NOLA.

I was talking to my auntie on Sunday and I told her that I was considering moving to NOLA for a few months out of the year – why not, we live in a digital world – I can work from just about anywhere. So I asked her if she had any interest in investing in a property in NOLA. And she said yes. Now, the next trip to NOLA means looking at places to call home, and I am really hoping for the Holy Cross Neighborhood. None of this is going to happen overnight, I know that, but if in two years, we are spending our January through March or April in NOLA, I won’t mind.

It has only been a week since I left NOLA and our Historic Green work to go back to my “real” life and my “real” job – but when I am in NOLA, I feel so alive and so real, it makes the things that I do in Minneapolis, while wonderful and challenging (and the food that I love and the friends and so many other things) seem a little bit pale by comparison. Having said that, I can not wait to take my hubby to the Two Sisters for his first jazz brunch experience, and walk with him down Rue Royale, and take him to the Holy Cross Neighborhood, and try that taco truck that everyone's been raving about! I can not wait to take my friend Laura to Cafe Du Monde even though she doesn't like coffee, and share a bottle of wine with Susannah and Christina again at some restaurant! Or just in some apartment or house.

For now I am just dreaming of our next planning trip for Historic Green.

Wednesday, March 19, 2008

What a whirlwind this has been! Last night, Andy Baker made a huge batch of crawfish for his bayou volunteers and all other interested neighbors and volunteers – which was originally set to occur at the Bayou platform, but was moved to the Village due to threatening rain – what a scene! Tables surrounded by neighbors and volunteers alike slurping and crunching on massive amounts of delicious, steaming crawfish with potatoes, corn, onions, and garlic – with just enough spice to make your lips burn. At one point, after toasts to several groups and individuals, the entire crowd of 150 or so people started chanting “Mac! Mac! Mac!..” (as Mac was in his office meeting with a youth group interested in partnering with the Village) when he finally heard us. He got a big grin on his face, waved and got back to his meeting. When it was all over and done with, there were a few folks remaining. One volunteer asked me if they could help clean, and within one minute, I had 10 folks cleaning, sweeping, moving trash, spraying tables, etc. Organizing 100+ volunteers during our days here, made a single simple task very easy to get done.

My lovely wife, Sarah, has been such an enormous help to me and us! She has taken on responsibility as the volunteer/project coordinator – the much needed connective role between Susannah and my work! While I run around, answer calls, decide on action, pick up supplies, deliver people, etc – and Susannah works through schedules, lunches, brochures, contacts, etc – Sarah calmly sits by the entrance of the Village, ready to meet and direct volunteers to job sites or necessary time-filling tasks until we decide where to put them for the day. She has really saved us a huge amount of stress and struggle this week, and made volunteers much less impatient. Today, while driving to the Village, Sarah and I fell into a conversation about Mac’s dream of having a basketball court. Andy indicated that there was money leftover from the boil last night, so we started wondering aloud at how much a movable goal would actually cost from Target or somewhere. I spoke with Mac on the subject when we arrived, and he excitedly informed me that someone was bringing him one today or tomorrow! With that said, we had five volunteers today who jumped at the opportunity to clean a section of the floor and measure/research/paint a half-court court onto the Villages gritty concrete floor. No goal or ball yet, but the court is prepped and ready now!

We had 73 (or more) additional volunteers (mostly Hillel and a Christian group) show up on top of our 48 today! Despite wet conditions from last night’s rain, we easily deployed them on over half-a-dozen work sites. That put today’s total number at over 115 volunteers at work in the neighborhood: some working with homeowners, changing bulbs with Greenlight NOLA, installing radiant barrier and weatherization programs with Alliance for Affordable Energy, deconstructing and reconstructing at 5200/5116/5115 Dauphine, sanding/weeding/power-washing the Delery Street Playground, and planting trees in recently cleared lots.

I wish I could write down everything that’s happened, and I wish I had the time and energy to see all of the needed projects through here! It saddens me to know that starting tomorrow I have to make people start bringing tools back from sites and shutting down our great first Historic Green event. The wheels are already turning for next year, and I am seriously considering leading a small troupe of people back in the fall for a smaller and less thoroughly planned volunteer event. This has been everything I dreamed it would be and more: Partnership and Providence in action! Leaving more “dots” connected in our wake than I can count, creating lasting in-roads for people who had not seen a path to assist here, and watching people leave with big plans for their own next steps back to the 9.

By Jeremy Knoll

"I Am Holy Cross": the Movie

Birds At Work

UTSA Roadrunners and Kansas Jayhawks joined forces to deconstruct a circa-1949 shed from the back of 5116 Dauphine.

Volunteers clean up Dauphine Street: UTSA students Annette, Allison, Chris and Brady work on a small flight of steps to be used for safe access to a storage trailer.

PHOTOS: Bill Dupont