[StBernard] Jackson Barracks rebounds after hurricanes Katrina, Rita

[Westley Annis]

Jackson Barracks rebounds after hurricanes Katrina, Rita
By ALLEN M. JOHNSON JR.
Advocate New Orleans bureau
Published: Feb 2, 2009 - UPDATED: 12:05 a.m.

NEW ORLEANS - Barring a resurgence of bureaucratic battles - or discovery of
another Indian burial site - the Louisiana Army National Guard should
complete the $200 million reconstruction of its statewide headquarters at
historic Jackson Barracks by January 2010, a top commander said.

Before Hurricane Katrina, Jackson Barracks contained approximately 219
structures with roadways, parking areas, interior fencing, a brick perimeter
and utilities, according to a FEMA environmental assessment report published
in November and based in part on a 2006 Louisiana National Guard
"after-action" report on storm damage to the base.

In July 2006, then-Gov. Kathleen Blanco announced plans to rebuild Jackson
Barracks, which suffered through floodwaters from 4 to 20 feet deep.

The Blanco administration envisioned the massive reconstruction project as
an economic catalyst for the area, built to post-storm building codes, with
flood-resistant materials, and hosting medical and safety services for a
needy public.

Lt. Col. Daniel P. Bordelon, commander of the 527th Engineer Battalion, who
is in charge of all LANG construction projects south of Baton Rouge, said
about 30 buildings "floated away" during flooding. The Guard razed another
100 heavily damaged structures. The barracks is being rebuilt in accordance
with a statewide "master plan" for LANG, copies of which were still
unavailable at press time.

State and federal rules for historic sites require work stoppages whenever a
potential Native American burial site is discovered.
Guard commanders at Jackson Barracks say they add "reverence and respect" to
the mission.

Although Andrew Jackson is revered in New Orleans as the military hero who
defeated British invaders at Chalmette in 1815, the fort that bears his name
also served as a prison for thousands of Indians during Jackson's
presidential administration, Guard commanders say.

"This (the base) is part of the 'Trail of Tears,'" Bordelon said, solemnly.

"Every time we want to dig up a gas line or a sewer line, we have to go to
the (14 Native American) tribes - for any subsurface work - right down to a
fence post."

The remains of two former Seminole prisoners - unearthed before hurricanes
Katrina and Rita flooded the base in 2005 - were later re-interred during a
solemn, previously unpublicized ceremony attended by top Guard generals and
chiefs from various tribes, said Lt. Col. Mike Tarpley, commander of the
LANG's nationally recognized cultural affairs unit.

"We re-interred the remains as close as possible so the 'pathway of the
spirits' is not interrupted," said Tarpley. "It was an arduous task. But we
showed reverence to the tribes based on their wishes on how they wanted to
re-intern the remains of their people."

Located in the impoverished, hurricane-scarred Lower 9th Ward along the St.
Bernard Parish line, Jackson Barracks today offers a promise of economic
recovery, a showcase of history, a modern model for energy efficiency, and -
neighborhood security.

While the reopening of Jackson Barracks is almost a year off, crime-wary
neighbors of the 100-acre military facility say they feel safer already.

"I see military police patrols pass by my house - hourly," said Ariane
Wiltse, a writer who bought a flood-damaged home near the barracks, one year
after hurricanes Katrina and Rita hit the area in 2005. "That's part of the
reason I bought a house over here - it's 24-hour security," she said.

In addition, LANG commanders have invited area residents to tour the base,
said Wiltse, a neighborhood activist. "They have been very inviting and very
open about the progress. That's reassuring."

Bordelon said base police patrolling the residential perimeter of Jackson
Barracks, including the Holy Cross neighborhood, the Lower 9th Ward, and in
St. Bernard Parish, are separate from Guard units that Gov. Bobby Jindal has
deployed to help understaffed city police.

"A lot of area residents &hellip said they wouldn't be back here if not for
the National Guard presence here," said Bordelon, a native New Orleanian who
left his chiropractic practice for full-time Guard duty after Katrina.

Many area residents have yet to return. A 2008 study showed vacancies in the
Lower 9 contributed to the city's ranking as the nation's leader in blighted
and vacant properties. St. Bernard government officials late last year
announced a plan to dispose of one out of every three homes in the parish -
acquired casualties from the 2005 storms.

In addition to enhanced security, the reopening of the base along the
Orleans and St. Bernard Parish line also promises an economic boost to the
area of an estimated $110 million a year, Maj. Gen. Hunt B. Downer, LANG
assistant adjutant general, said recently.

Seven hundred Guard members will staff the facility, and an additional 3,500
servicemen and women will drill at the barracks on weekends, Downer said in
a Guard news release.

The Jackson Military Barracks Military Museum (6400 St. Claude Ave.) should
reopen to the public by May 2010. Although heavily damaged by floodwaters,
historic documents have been restored and will be returned to public view.

FEMA correspondence with Native American tribes - including those whose
ancestors resisted President Jackson's Indian removal policies of the 1830s
- shows tribal representatives have been regularly consulted on the recovery
of Jackson Barracks.

"We've had 11 formal consultations with the tribes since Katrina," said
local FEMA spokesman Bob Josephson.

In a May 21, 2008, letter to tribes from Florida to Oklahoma, a FEMA
representative wrote that the demolition of damaged buildings was being
planned. The tribes were asked to contact the federal agency if they
believed the undertaking would "affect historic properties that may have
religious and cultural significance to your tribe."

Meanwhile, 16 buildings under construction at the Barracks have been divided
among six contractors. Among them - Gibbs Construction Inc. of Harahan,
which also built the $2.9 million "Mike the Tiger Habitat" at LSU.

Bordelon said LSU operates a community health clinic, where the base fronts
North Claiborne Street. The LANG is "still in negotiations" to host a New
Orleans police station. However, a firehouse that Blanco sought apparently
has not come to pass.

Bordelon said construction of 94 long-delayed "Louisiana cottages" is
scheduled for completion by September. Bids went out Jan. 24, he said.

Located on the lake side of the base, and better known as "Katrina
cottages," the 800-square-foot cottages will constitute a subdivision known
as "Katrina Village."

The LANG is getting high marks from environmentalists for using
cost-efficient criteria for saving energy.

"Jackson Barracks has a potential to become a model," said Kathy Wascom,
volunteer lobbyist for the Louisiana Environmental Action Network.

"We're down to a four-day work week for energy savings," Bordelon said of
LANG power usage statewide. The change began several months ago. "We have
had a 15 percent savings in energy costs."

On another front, progress in reconstruction has picked up, and bureaucratic
bickering has subsided in the last six months, according to interviews with
LANG and FEMA officials.

"We have closed the decision-making process from six months to two months,"
Bordelon said.

The showcase of the rebuilding base is a majestic collection of antebellum
homes built of  brick and plaster by unknown hands, according to the
National Register of Historic Places, which listed Jackson Barracks in 1976.
The flood-damaged homes also are being rebuilt.

Standing with his back to the river - as a ship passed behind him - Bordelon
was not far away from a monument erected in 2000 to Seminole Indians once
imprisoned here.

Bordelon admits his awe of the seemingly perfect posture of the homes
surrounding the empty parade grounds.

"These buildings haven't cracked or shifted going on almost 200 years,"
Bordelon said. "New construction doesn't hold up like this!" 

  
 
  
 

  
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