That’s the title of a very old song. It’s also one of many pictures that I’ve been making on my Central City project. Before I post, a few stories. Central City is located roughly in the center of New Orleans. It’s boundaries seem to expand and contract depending on what map your read or who you talk to. But, for my project’s purposes it is bounded by Louisiana Avenue, Claiborne, I-10 and St Charles Avenue, although the house and buildings of St Charles Avenue look nothing like most of the housing stock in the heart of Central City. Today the area is crime ridden and down trodden. But, once, it was the heart os business, commerce and architecture. At one point in its history, Oretha Castle Hailey Blvd– once called Dryades Street — was second only to Canal Street. Because this area is located on a rare piece of high ground which means much of it did not flood during Hurricane Katrina, a lot of attention has been called to it. There are new condo developments, there is a lot of interest in restoring the once proud Oretha Castle Hailey Blvd back to its grand status and there seems to be a lot of interest in making the district livable again.
So. My project is about rebirth. There is a lot of talk about whether it is possible. Some say as the area is re-populating the crime rate is rising. Others say in ten years time, the area will be thriving. After all, it is the only neighborhood from which you can walk to The MBZ Superdome. Time, hard work and luck will tell.
This picture. There is a gym that is probably only for the hardiest of gym rats called Friday Night Fights based on its reputation for holding a big event called — you guessed it — Friday Night Fights every couple of months. I went there to make a few pictures This is one of them.
I case you are wondering there will be a lot more pictures and a lot more stories to tell as this project progresses.
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