Contributor: Preston Browning

In early December, Mercy Corps and its partners The Green Project and The ReBuilding Center deconstructed a hurricane-ravaged house at 2118 Dumaine Street in New Orleans. The deconstruction was part of Mercy Corps' ongoing ReClaim New Orleans project, meant to help low-income families salvage materials from their damaged homes.

The house, built in the 1850s, had partially collapsed during Hurricane Katrina. The owners, Bienville and Galetha Ancar, have an auto body shop at the back of the property, which has been in Bienville's family for more than 50 years. They own the property outright, but have no homeowners or flood insurance.

Soon after the storm, representatives from Mercy Corps and The ReBuilding Center came to New Orleans to assess the potential for deconstruction of the many storm damaged houses. While touring the city, they met Ancar, and his house was identified as a good pilot project. Despite termite damage and the damage caused by the collapse, a fair amount of valuable materials could be salvaged.

Many people were involved in the deconstruction of 2118 Dumaine Street over six days of work. Five Green Project staff, two staff from The ReBuilding Center, two people hired from the neighborhood, several volunteers and I performed the work. The ReBuilding Center also sent a staffer to help with technical and logistical assistance.

The scope of work included the actual salvage, as well as removing nails, handling material, removing debris and cleaning the site.

Approximately 150 cubic yards of salvaged material was removed from the site. Close to 300 cubic yards of debris was moved to the street and hauled away by the Army Corps of Engineers. Though a large portion of that was unsalvageable building materials, much of it was the owner’s personal items such as furniture.

We determined that roughly 40% of the building's materials were able to be salvaged. Fortunately, since the entire process was done by hand, much of the owner’s personal items were saved. This included keys to the cars from the shop, important papers, jewelry and tools.

Some of the building materials recovered include heart pine flooring and lumber, doors, windows, shutters, plywood, moldings, slate roofing and vintage hardware. These items have been taken to The Green Project, where they are offered for sale at an affordable price to the community. Sales from these materials have reached nearly $4,000 and are expected to exceed $7,500. After the materials have been sold, The Green Project will give Ancar an itemized tax receipt with photo documentation that will help to offset his losses.

This pilot project was successful for many reasons. Ancar’s house was cleared from the lot and he and his family can move forward with their lives. In addition, Mercy Corps and its partners received on-the-job training in deconstruction.

Most importantly, the deconstruction of 2118 Dumaine Street demonstrated the potential for an important program that promotes sustainability, job creation and options for hurricane survivors in New Orleans.

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