National Park Service returns rundown buildings to city

NEW ORLEANS – The National Park Service is returning four rundown buildings to a Louisiana city after taking ownership of them 20 years ago.

The New Orleans Advocate reports the Park Service announced Tuesday that it’s cancelling its lease of Armstrong Park with New Orleans. New Orleans officials welcomed the Park Service decades ago in the hopes it would restore the buildings to showcase the city’s musical history. The buildings were meant to serve as part of the New Orleans Jazz National Historic Park.

The lease cancellation follows years of complaints from neighbours and preservationists that the Park Service wasn’t doing enough to protect the buildings. A spokeswoman for Mayor LaToya Cantrell, LaTonya Norton, says the city is developing a plan for the buildings that will be announced in the coming months.

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Information from: The New Orleans Advocate, http://www.neworleansadvocate.com