Nothing worse could happen to the Ocean Springs, Mississippi Louis Sullivan cottage and James Charnley bungalow than being hit by hurricane Katrina, right? How about being quagmired in "Red Tape."
A recent article on Bloomberg.com reveals the continuing bad luck for these hapless historic homes:
Two years later, the two bungalows are still in ruins, one
knocked off its foundation and the other propped up on wooden
bracing. Although there is some interest in saving the historic
buildings, they remain threatened by a force as debilitating as
any storm: bureaucratic red tape...
... In fact, the repairs have barely begun. "The state of
Mississippi seems to be struggling on how to administer the
funds,'' says Cooper Norman, the architect overseeing both
restorations. He reckons that each house will cost at least
$500,000 to stabilize, then another $1.5 million or so to fully
restore. Recently a contractor backed out of the stabilization
phase, perhaps intimidated by the scale of the job.
You can read the rest of this sad tale and see some more photos of the buildings by following the link. Hopefully, some sort of compromise can be reached so that Mississippi doesn't lose more of it's precious cultural heritage.
Photos copyright Mike Di Paola
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