ST. ROCH NATIVE EMERGES AS POTENTIAL OPERATOR OF THE ST. ROCH MARKET

Born in New Orleans and raised in St. Roch at the corner of North Villere and Franklin Avenue, Mr. Alvin R. Albe, Jr. grew up frequenting the St. Roch Market, and throughout most of his professional career has kept an artist painting of the building above his office desk.

That desk, however, had been a long way from New Orleans.

Mr. Albe moved to Los Angeles in the early 1980s, where he served as an Executive Vice President of Trust Company of the West, an investment management firm which counts several of the nation’s largest pension funds, endowments, and foundations among its clients.

But Mr. Albe always considered himself a New Orleanian. Shortly before Hurricane Katrina, as the intensity of his career wound down and business no longer required him to live in Los Angeles year-round, Mr. Albe purchased a home in the French Quarter and has switched back to a Louisiana’s driver license.

One day soon, he hopes, he’ll also hold a City of New Orleans occupational license.

Earlier this month, he made a decision to wait no longer for an individual or corporate entity to commit to operating the Market once the City completes the building’s renovation. Instead, he’s decided to pursue the operation of the building himself, and hopes to restore it to the use he remembers from his youth—as a fresh seafood market, with the new addition of a small restaurant in the rear of the building.

“When it became apparent to me that no one was taking charge of making sure the Market would flourish once again, I decided I had to try,” says Mr. Albe. “Along with the Artwalk and improvements to Sampson/St. Roch Playground, I envision an operating Market being the final catalyst for the revitalization of St. Roch.”

Though he has no prior experience in operating a seafood market, Mr. Albe is confident that he can bring the Market back to a use he thinks the surrounding communities deserve.

“I have managed complex businesses throughout my career, and I know how to identify, hire, and motivate people to succeed," he says.

Mr. Albe has met with representatives of several community organizations throughout the St. Claude Avenue corridor, including the Faubourg St. Roch Improvement Association, St. Roch Community Development Corporation, St. Claude Avenue Main Street, Faubourg Marigny Improvement Association, Bunny Friend Neighborhood Association, and the Entergy Innovation Center.

His vision for the Market and personal investment in the neighborhood has been met with enthusiastic support from these community groups. FSRP is assisting Mr. Albe in his engagement with City officials, and will introduce Mr. Albe to District C Councilmember Kristin Gisleson Palmer in early April.

Meanwhile, the City is proceeding with its renovation of the building. Contracted architect Lee Ledbetter & Associates is expected to submit construction documents by the end of August, and the project’s bid and six-month construction schedule is expected to be complete in May of 2012.

FSRP, Louisiana Green Corps Wrap Up Thermal Coupling Program Launch

The Faubourg St. Roch Project and Louisiana Green Corps are nearly finished with the final of 7 Thermal Coupling installations that served as the program’s launch.

The organizations have completed work at 1314 St. Roch Avenue, 1505 St. Roch Avenue, 1510 St. Roch Avenue, 1825 St. Roch Avenue, 1926 St. Roch Avenue, 2430 St. Roch Avenue, and are now finishing work at 2416 St. Roch Avenue.

Thermal Coupling is a simple, inexpensive, and highly effective retrofit building technology that reduces moisture and heat exchange in raised structures built on piers, a common condition of homes in St. Roch and throughout New Orleans. By enclosing a home’s crawl space with a moisture resistant material, the Thermal Coupling retrofit provides immediate energy savings and improved comfort to the homeowner, and also helps protect against moisture damage to the home’s sills, joists, and subfloor.

The program was launched with seven installations in St. Roch. Selected homeowners were identified through a neighborhood lottery and are receiving the retrofit at no cost.

The work is being performed by graduates of the Louisiana Green Corps, a program which trains young adults from disadvantaged communities in home weatherization techniques, energy efficient building, deconstruction, basic carpentry, and workplace safety.

In the coming months, FSRP will compare year-over-year energy usage at the homes to document the savings afforded by the Thermal Coupling retrofit. Past installations show that a homeowner can expect to save approximately 25% on energy bills.

NEIGHBOR SPOTLIGHT: MR. RAY MARTES � 2416 ST. ROCH AVENUE

Pass by the 2400 block of St. Roch Avenue on any given morning and one is likely to find Mr. Ray Martes on his regular patrol, picking up trash and monitoring the cars parked on the neutral ground.

Look a little closer, and one will quickly realize that Mr. Martes is not a city worker.

“Eventually, you have to make a choice,” says Mr. Martes, who purchased his home at 2416 St. Roch Avenue in 1999. “You can sit around waiting, hoping for the City to do its job, to take care of what they should be taking care of without your asking, or you can step up and take things into your own hands.”

Having spent time in the Navy, and having spent much of his professional career as a BellSouth technician who specialized in repairing communications infrastructure in disaster-stricken areas, Mr. Martes speaks with a hardened tone of self-reliance.

“To me, when that’s the hand you’re dealt, there’s only one choice you can make,” he says.

But Mr. Martes does not have to fight this battle alone.

Alongside him is longtime resident Mr. Donald Francis, who has called 2408 St. Roch Avenue home since 1970.

“He was my inspiration. He was the main reason I came back here after Katrina. In fact, it was Donald and his wife that I first saw trying to clean up the neutral ground and I simply joined in,” says Mr. Martes.

But the group admits their efforts can only go so far.

At his home two blocks from Florida Avenue, in the shadow of an Interstate-10 overpass, Mr. Martes explains that he and his neighbors suffer from a lack of representation in discussions over the allocation of public resources.

“I have no problem saying it. I don’t care who it offends. We’re in a neglected part of town.”

Such a sentiment is difficult to argue. Gaping potholes, crumbling sidewalks, leaking water lines, and blighted lots abound in the colloquial “back of town” part of St. Roch.

Why not contact the City Council representative to see that the situation is addressed?

“Don’t get me started,” says Mr. Martes with a laugh.

Unlike the more visible face of St. Roch, including the well-known St. Roch Market, St. Roch Cemetery, and Sampson/St. Roch Playground, which are all part of Council District C, Mr. Martes’ part of the neighborhood falls within the river-side boundary of Council District D. As such, the “back of town” part of St. Roch competes for the attention of District D Councilmember Cynthia Hedge-Morrell with more prominent parts of the Gentilly and Lakeview neighborhoods—two neighborhoods which also happen to be more affluent.

“We’re caught in no-man’s land back here,” says Mr. Martes. “We ask what repairs are scheduled for St. Roch. They talk about the seafood market, they talk about the repairs to Urquhart, they talk about the neutral ground between the seafood market and the park, they talk about the pool, but not one of those is in our district. Not one. Tax dollars are tax dollars. All I’m asking for is what’s fair to me and everybody else.”

To make matters worse, the disrepair of public infrastructure around Mr. Martes’ home can be infectious.

Mr. Martes has seen it too many times to call it anything other than systemic: contractors park their trucks on the neutral ground; a local auto repair shop puts damaged cars on the blighted lots of absentee property owners; worst of all, on multiple occasions, Mr. Martes has witnessed work crews dumping trash onto the neutral ground in the last block before Florida Avenue.

“Can you imagine what that feels like to see? We’re proud to own homes here. And you look out and see a crew just dumping trash on the neutral ground – same way they would if they went to unload at a junkyard.”

Not one to idly complain, Mr. Martes says that these sorts of scenes helped incite him into action.

“You think they’d ever go dump trash on the St. Charles neutral ground? This is my neighborhood—this is our neighborhood—we’re not going to stand for it,” says Mr. Martes.

“Look, pride isn’t exclusive to the folks who live in the mansions on St. Charles. And if the City isn’t going to care about this part of town until we force them to, so be it. We have to be loud to get anything done out here. If you crawl under a rock, they’re just going to put more rocks on top of you. You have to speak up. You have to do the best you can to keep the neighborhood clean, to make a voice for what you think is right,” he says.

When he collects trash each morning, or keeps an eye out for cars parked on the neutral ground, or continues his 8-years-and-counting-long fight with the City’s code enforcement over the blighted-turned-vacant lot next to his home, or even cuts the grass of his neighbor’s front yard, Mr. Martes certainly holds true to his own word.

“And I don’t plan on stopping anytime soon,” he says.

CONTACT
Faubourg St Roch Project	Media Inquiries
Darren Alberti Executive Director 618 Spain Street New Orleans, LA 70117 Phone: 504.527.6936 dalberti@strochproject.com	Denise A. Estopinal The Estopinal Group 501 Basin St., Suite B New Orleans, LA 70112 Office: 504.269-9233 Fax: 504.269-9232 denise@estopinalgroup.com

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Mission Statement

The Faubourg St. Roch Project (FSRP) has as its mission the renaissance of one of New Orleans' most historic, urban neighborhoods. The organization was formed post-Katrina as a collective of neighborhood activists and New Orleans natives who have expertise in sustainable housing, preservation, finance and the arts. FSRP is augmenting the resources of longstanding institutions to help residents return to and benefit from a revitalized community. FSRP's strategies include rebuilding/renovating damaged housing, invigorating public spaces, and establishing and supporting commercial and community enterprises.