[StBernard] Rebuilding St. Bernard: A Series About Residents Returning Home,

[Westley Annis]

>From sbpg.net...

 
Doug Miltz jokes he was once a Yankee who is now a "converted Southerner.''

Retired from the flower shop business, Miltz, 58, has been in the New
Orleans area for 35 years but for the last 25 he lived at 409 Parish Drive
in Arabi until his home was damaged by Hurricane Katrina.
 
He went to Pennsylvania after the storm "and I came back one month ago'' and
will live again in the parish.
 
Miltz has purchased the home his son owned in the 1000 block of Friscoville
Avenue in Arabi and has started renovations, including a front garden he was
planting on Monday, July 17. The son has moved to Uptown New Orleans.
 
"I like St. Bernard,'' he said when asked why he decided to stay and
rebuild.
"I was hesitant'' about what to do, Miltz said. But "this was my
salvation,'' he said of the chance to buy his son's home, especially after
he saw several other homes in the block were being redone. "This street is
coming back.''
 
His home is gutted and "I got the roof on Monday and Tuesday of last week,''
Miltz said, saying he plans a new look for the light-colored brick
residence. 
 
Miltz said he will put in five long windows across the front, making it look
"like a Frank Lloyd Wright home,'' a reference to the famous architect.

"I'm spending a lot of money to rejuvenate it.''
 
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Jim York