[StBernard] St. Bernard Parish Courthouse to open as Hurricane Katrina renovations wrap up

[Westley Annis]

St. Bernard Parish Courthouse to open as Hurricane Katrina renovations wrap
up
 By Benjamin Alexander-Bloch, NOLA.com | The Times-Picayune 
on January 10, 2013 at 4:23 PM, updated January 10, 2013 at 10:28 PM Print

Over budget and long behind schedule, the historic St. Bernard Parish
Courthouse will soon reopen, marking another step in the parish's recovery
from Hurricane Katrina in 2005. The courthouse, which suffered a mold
outbreak after being partially swamped in the storm seven years ago, is
parish government's last major recovery project.

The most recent delay, officials say, came courtesy of Hurricane Isaac in
August, which brought a new round of storm damage and delayed the opening
for another two months as contractors removed custom-made ceiling tiles and
interior furnishing and made repairs to the roof. Now move-in is scheduled
for as early as March but still could push back into the spring.

"The courthouse is the last piece of the puzzle," Parish President Dave
Peralta said this week. "It completes the law enforcement triangle down
there. Now the courthouse, sheriff, and all the personnel will be in the
same general area, which should just help streamline criminal justice."

Last November, the new $6 million Courthouse Square building opened just
behind the courthouse. It houses the assessor's office, the public
defender's office and some sheriff's personnel. It also has holding cells
where up to 35 prisoners can await their court appearances.

And about a year before that, in December 2011, the St. Bernard Parish
Sheriff's Office celebrated the opening of its new building - located
directly behind the Courthouse Square building. It is sits on the same
location as its previous home, built in the early 1960s and torn down after
Katrina. That three-story, 15,000-square-foot annex cost about $4.4 million.

While initial FEMA estimates - based on the damage that was visible at the
time - placed the courthouse remediation at $3 million, further review of
the extent of mold and asbestos, and the necessary historic repairs, quickly
caused costs to skyrocket.

The courthouse contract now stands at about $13.4 million, without the added
Isaac costs yet factored in.

FEMA is paying for all but $800,000, which is the parish share.

Katrina-related courthouse repairs

Courthouse staff went back to work in the 1930s-era building about a month
after Katrina. But about four years later, as part of planning for a major
FEMA-financed renovation, contractors found elevated levels of mold
throughout its walls and air ducts.

And in April 2010, the 34th Judicial District Court - the Clerk of Court,
judicial and district attorney staff - moved from the three-story building
on St. Bernard Highway into a series of six offices in the Village Square
strip mall about a mile away. It marked the first time court had been held
outside the building since 1939.

Initially scheduled for a December 2011 completion, the project now is more
than a year behind. CDM Smith contractors blame asbestos problems, and all
the hoops that come with following mandated historic renovation standards.

By July 2011, the courthouse was mold free, and parish officials were
predicting move-in by year's end.

But then, in the opening was pushed back to June 2012, and when June rolled
around, the parish was estimating construction into August.

Then came Isaac.

Douglas D. Landry, the project manager, said that delays are common in
historic renovations projects of the courthouse's scope and that asbestos
problems consumed more time than originally estimated. He also emphasized
that marrying the historic fixtures with modern electrical, plumbing and
ventilation systems has been a daunting, time-consuming task.

"The unique nature and complexity of a historical restoration and
preservation project such as the 34th District Courthouse commonly
experience substantial delays caused by 'unforeseen' or latent conditions
not realized until the actual demolition of the damaged elements are
removed," Landry wrote in response to emailed NOLA.com | Times-Picayune
questions.

"To be honest the extent of those unforeseen conditions is impossible to
forecast," Landry added.

About four feet of brackish storm water flooded the courthouse for days
during Katrina, with the floodwater's sludge remaining for several weeks.
The courthouse's roof was damaged by high winds and windborne debris, and
rain shot through the roof, windows and window-mounted air conditioners.

Mold spores took hold and bloomed. Flooring in the main corridors and
courtroom previously consisted of vinyl asbestos tile laid in a checkered
mosaic, and asbestos problems were accentuated by the prolonged water
exposure.

During the recent renovations, a secondary emergency generator and
additional structural support were added. The additional generator will run
the HVAC system to control temperature during a power outage to prevent
future mold growth, according to the contractors.

A history in limestone

For nearly three years now, the 34th Judicial District Court has worked from
its current Village Square digs, amid a host of storefronts ranging from a
tattoo parlor to a Subway restaurant.

The contrast to the historic courthouse couldn't be starker.

The old art deco courthouse has a smooth limestone façade with stylized
hand-chiseled floral patterns, a two-story lobby with Italian marble stairs
complete with curved aluminum stair railings, and a main courtroom with
inlaid ornamental mahogany wood panels and benches.

Even the building's bathroom stalls are constructed of Italian marble.
Custom-made tiles line the courthouse lobby's ceiling, with two chandeliers
hanging from its top.

Initially constructed in 1939 with federal dollars as a part of the
President Franklin Roosevelt's Works Progress Administration, the courthouse
design largely was the brainchild of architect Solis Seiferth. Parish
historian William Hyland recalled that Seiferth once said the courthouse was
inspired by the grand temple of Mesopotamia, an ancient building in what is
present-day Iraq.

Then-St. Bernard Sheriff Louis "Doc" Meraux and District Attorney Leander
Perez Sr. approved of the idea, and former Gov. Huey P. Long, then a close
ally of the two, concurred, according to Hyland. That was soon before Long's
assassination, when he was a U.S. senator contemplating a run for president.

Meraux led the push to construct the St. Bernard Parish Courthouse in part
to create a new progressive parish center in Chalmette that included modern
roads and more democratic public education institutions. The former
courthouse sat in lower St. Bernard from 1848 to 1939, where elite French
sugar plantation owners and educated Isleños generally had presided,
according to Hyland.

In 1940, St. Bernard only contained 7,280 residents, according to historic
census data. Some of the largest industries were gambling, fur-trapping,
oil, sugar, lumber and fishing.

Meraux died in 1938, just before the courthouse's opening, and his deputy
sheriff, Dutch Rowley, took over as sheriff. Perez, the legendary
arch-segregationist political boss of St. Bernard and Plaquemines parishes,
also held court there, and was instrumental in the courthouse construction,
according to Hyland.

Until the 1960s, the St. Bernard Parish Courthouse was the sole hub for
parish politics in St. Bernard, housing the parish's Police Jury, School
Board and all government offices.