Charity Hospital

The Foundation for Historical Louisiana has announced a public presentation of the Existing Conditions and Facilities Assessment of Big Charity Hospital on August 20, 2008 at 2:30pm in the auditorium in the Port of New Orleans Headquarters Building at 1350 Port of N.O. Place. The facility is located on the riverfront at the end of Henderson Street behind the New Orleans Convention Center.

As charged by the Louisiana Legislature, the Foundation retained the services of the architectural firm, RMJM Hillier, to “…assess the condition of the facility and evaluate its potential uses as a location from which medical services may be offered to the population of the Greater New Orleans area…” and to “…examine and evaluate the entire Big Charity structure to determine the advisability of repairing or restructuring the entire facility…” This assessment will be the first post-Katrina report on the structural integrity and potential reuse of the building.

The Foundation for Historical Louisiana asks interested parties to RSVP to the Foundation for Historical Louisiana at 225-387-2464 or fhla@bellsouth.net because seating is limited. The presentation content will also be available on the foundation's website at www.FHL.org beginning August 21st.

When the Public Works Administration (PWA) authorized a grant to assist the state of Louisiana in financing Charity Hospital, the New Orleans firm of Weiss, Dreyfous and Seiferth was selected to design the structure. When completed in 1940, Charity was the second largest hospital in the country, the tallest building in the city. Sculptor Enrique Alvarez designed the ornamental screen above the main entrance lintel. The Southeastern Architectural Archive houses the collection of Weiss, Dreyfous and Seiferth.