An entire NOLA neighborhood may be facing the wrecking ball

[KamaAina]

and it's not because of flooding. Rather, LSU Medical Center and the VA propose to build new hospitals on what is described as a "70-acre chunk" but is in fact a neighborhood that, like so many others, is struggling to recover.

http://www.nola.com/news/t-p/frontpage/index.ssf?/base/news-9/1190962088232900.xml&coll=1

But Deutsches Haus members, who number more than 300, are anxious as they stage their giant beer and sausage party. The group's home, dating to 1928, may not survive much longer, at least at its current site.

The Deutsches Haus, or German House, at 200 South Galvez a block off Canal Street, sits in the middle of a planned biomedical complex that, barring major problems with environmental reviews, would feature new LSU and Veterans Affairs hospitals.

Even as they await details from the VA regarding its downtown plan, state officials' early conceptual drawings call for bed towers at almost precisely the location of the German center. They also call for the closure of Galvez Street, which would connect LSU and VA hospital sections.

An approximately 70-acre chunk of a neglected section at Mid-City's downtown edge would be replaced by a $2 billion development seen by many as critical to New Orleans' storm recovery as well as its long-term economic viability.

Here's the "neglected section at Mid-City's downtown edge":

http://www.pnola.org

http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?ie=UTF8&hl=en&msa=0&msid=117591179886410613143.00000112678ea9bab3b3a&t=h&om=1&z=12

The stiffest concentration of PNOLA work sites, at the lower left corner of the map, lies squarely in the path of this development. Are they really going to let all this hard work go to waste, when there are plenty of other sites available? For instance, a Georgia group has assembled a large parcel about a mile farther out Canal St. -- anchored by the closed Mercy Hospital! Why not do it there instead of the big-box retail project that no one in Mid-City seems to want?