This article was originally featured on January 11, 2023, on NOLA.com | the Times Picayune. Article by Stephanie Riegel.

NANO Architecture | Interiors and VergesRome Architects were selected by the City of New Orleans Capital Projects Administration to lead the FEMA stabilization and restoration efforts of the iconic Morris FX Jeff Municipal Auditorium. The repair work to the dilapidated historic venue is the “first step in a bigger project to find new uses for the space and Armstrong Park”, according to city officials. “Among the ideas under discussion have been redeveloping the building into a multi-use entertainment, education, commercial, and cultural venue.” The focus for this phase, though, is to stabilize the historic auditorium and prevent it from sustaining any additional weather damage.

The Department of Capital Projects Administration selected the design team after a rigorous evaluation and review of proposals from various local design firms. Both the design phase and the construction that will follow, will be paid for with $37M that FEMA allocated to New Orleans in 2018 after years of back-and-forth negotiations over the cost to repair the damage that the building sustained in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.

Click here to read the full article on NOLA.com.