Original report from JC Canicosa/LA Illuminator
Despite objections from preservationist groups, LSU has moved ahead with demolishing McDonogh No. 11, a 142-year-old New Orleans elementary school that has undergone millions of dollars of publicly-funded renovation and moving.
The LSU Health Science Center, which bought the building to make room for the University Medical Center, will build a clinic where McDonogh 11 currently stands.
The Old McDonogh 11 building, photo taken June 2020
Edwin Murray, vice chancellor of the LSU Health Science Center, said in a phone interview last year McDonogh 11 was actually approved for demolition in 2010. Since then, the building has been moved three times by the state because preservationists wanted the building saved. The LSU Health Science Center had no desire to tear down the building, Murray said.
Ernie Ballard, a spokesperson for LSU, said the university “offered it to a number of preservationist groups but no one ultimately stepped up to do something with it.”
Danielle Del Sol, executive director of the Preservation Resource Center, said developers “desperately wanted to save” McDonogh 11, but the costs of moving and renovating the building were too much.
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