[StBernard] Community Center of St. Bernard is challenging eviction in court

[Westley Annis]

Community Center of St. Bernard is challenging eviction in court
Published: Friday, September 03, 2010, 8:00 AM 
 Bob Warren, The Times-Picayune 
 
The Community Center of St. Bernard is asking a judge to block its eviction
from its building in Arabi.

Andrew Jackson Lodge No. 428, which owns the building, wants to evict the
center in an effort to get more rent for the location, said Iray Nabatoff,
executive director of the Community Center. Nabatoff said the center has
rented the site for $1 per year since 2007.

State District Judge Kirk Vaughn is scheduled to hear the eviction request,
as well as the petition to block it, Friday morning in Chalmette, attorneys
for the Community Center and Andrew Jackson Lodge said.

The Community Center, which opened after Hurricane Katrina, provides
community services ranging from a food pantry and clothing bank to financial
and computer literacy training, Nabatoff said. "We're a safety net for the
community,'' he said.

The Community Center's suit said the center has helped more than 5,000
families. "Across the board, we've seen the needs grow,'' in 2010, Nabatoff
said.

The center's petition said the lodge, wanting to "give back to the community
of St. Bernard,'' agreed in summer of 2007 to lease the building at 1107
LeBeau St. to the center for $1 a year. Nabatoff said the Community Center
invested $105,000 in materials and volunteer hours to renovate the building,
which had been extensively damaged during Hurricane Katrina.

The petition says the Community Center wanted to exercise its option for
another year for the period July 1, 2010 to June 30, 2011, but received a
letter from the lodge in April terminating the lease. The petition says the
lodge did not specify how the center was in default.

Skylar Rosenbloom, the Community Center's attorney, said the petition asks
the court to uphold the lease, which he says gives the center the option to
lease the building for another year. The petition also asks the court to
"say we own the improvements we made to the building.''

Andrew Gregorian, the attorney representing the lodge, acknowledged the
eviction proceedings but would not elaborate.

Rosenbloom and Nabatoff said the Community Center is trying to find another,
larger location in the parish. Nabatoff said the center is trying to raise
$500,000 for a new location. "Regardless of this, they need a bigger
space,'' Rosenbloom said. "We just want to make sure they're not evicted
before a new space can be found.''