A theater on Baronne Street, an eight-story former telephone company building on Poydras Street and a group of small commercial buildings on South Rampart Street -- structures without a lot in common except that they are New Orleans' newest officially designated landmarks.
The Central Business District panel of the Historic District Landmarks Commission voted recently to designate as local landmarks the former Civic Theatre, a former BellSouth building and a group of buildings that played important roles in the early history of jazz.
The buildings all had been nominated as landmarks in the 1990s, giving the commission jurisdiction over them as if they had been formally designated.
Before they could actually be designated as landmarks, however, the commission's staff had to prepare extensive reports on their historical and architectural significance. That task took the often short-staffed agency several years, but this month's votes made the designations official and permanent.
The best-known of the structures probably is the Civic, which was built in 1906 as a playhouse in the Shubert Co. chain and is said to be the oldest surviving theater in New Orleans.
The Central Business District panel of the Historic District Landmarks Commission voted recently to designate as local landmarks the former Civic Theatre, a former BellSouth building and a group of buildings that played important roles in the early history of jazz.
The buildings all had been nominated as landmarks in the 1990s, giving the commission jurisdiction over them as if they had been formally designated.
Before they could actually be designated as landmarks, however, the commission's staff had to prepare extensive reports on their historical and architectural significance. That task took the often short-staffed agency several years, but this month's votes made the designations official and permanent.
The best-known of the structures probably is the Civic, which was built in 1906 as a playhouse in the Shubert Co. chain and is said to be the oldest surviving theater in New Orleans.
For more information contact All About Jazz.
