Preserve Jazz Patrimony

An article that appeared in the Times-Picayune on Feb. 29, 1996 P.B-6

Louis Armstrong

It's been decades since New Orleans woke up to discover that Louis Armstrong's home had been destroyed in a spasm of what was then called urban renewal. Now the tailor shop on South Rampart where he toiled as a youngster may face a date with the wrecking crew.

It's an unprepossessing building, to be sure, a forlorn outpost of another era keeping lonely vigil over a parking lot that serves glistening office towers. But New Orleans needs to think long and hard about itself before letting another shrine to our musical heritage go the way of Storyville, one of the last of whose notorious "cribs" was razed earlier this month.

Jazz is our legacy and our greatest gift to America. With the city's economy as depen- dent as it is on tourism and entertainment, jazz - indeed, our music in general - may also be our greatest gift to ourselves.

While New Orleans dithered, Cleveland - on the basis of modest claims indeed - snapped up the Rock 'n' Roll Hall of Fame that overnight became an international attraction celebrating a musical style that New Orleans incubated.

Dithering persists. Plans for a linear jazz park along Basin Street have been on the back burner almost since they were first advanced in the early '90s. The National Park Service talks of honoring our jazz heritage with some sort of museum that might incorporate sites around the city into a "linear park."

Talk is cheap. Museums aren't.

Jazz is a living thing. Its latest manifestations, shaped importantly by a new generation of New Orleans natives, attests to its vigor and adaptability.

Cities, too, are living things, ever consuming themselves to create a future. Our future in important ways is tied to our past, the legacy of beautiful architecture and cultural idiosyncrasy that brings visitors here from around the world.

While we temporize over what parts of our heritage to celebrate, we risk losing another link to the past we seek to preserve.

The 400 block of South Rampart Street is believed by many historians to have clear ties to the early development of jazz. It was a rough-and-tumble neighborhood where jazz musicians congregated and performed in the early 20th century.

Four buildings of the era remain. All are up for historic landmark status, which would offer protection from demolition or external change. Meanwhile, many are in jeopardy.

Developer Joseph Canizaro owns a complex of buildings that once housed a saloon featuring Eve music. A few years ago, he applied for a demolition permit, but later withdrew his request.

Now a demolition company has picked up applications for permits to demolish two of the buildings, now owned by Arlene Meraux, heir of St. Bernard Parish banker Joseph Meraux. Ms. Meraux also owns another building on the block.

One of the Meraux buildings housed the Eagle Saloon and Odd Fellows Hall, scene of music acts and meetings of social clubs. Another was the famous Iroquois Theater for black vaudeville and jazz. The third held a tailor shop and Morris Music. The music store is believed to be New Orleans' first jazz record store. The Russian Jewish Karnovsky family ran the tailor shop and befriended and gave odd jobs to the young Armstrong and. according to jazz scholars, helped him buy his first cornet.

These buildings represent a considerable historic patrimony, and some way must be found to preserve and display them as part of the city's rich historic offerings.