New Orleans revival
Seven structures restored, consolidated into Country Inn & Suites

By Angelle Bergeron

Renovation projects always include some unknowns, but the restoration and consolidation of several New Orleans historic structures into the Country Inn & Suites by Carlson presented an inordinate number of surprises.

Still, Brice Construction Co. of Metairie managed to complete the $11.4 million project in time for the January grand opening and create a first-of-its-kind product for the privately held worldwide company.

Brice started demolition of the seven masonry structures, all of which were built between 1850 and 1900, in December 2003. The buildings are situated in a U-configuration between Magazine, Gravier, Picayune and Natchez streets in the Central Business District in New Orleans.

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The main entrance at 313/315 Magazine St. and one other building were warehouses. The building at 523 Natchez St. was the former home to the Clarion Herald, a local Catholic newspaper. The three buildings to the rear, facing Picayune, were old warehouses that had been most recently converted into condominiums.

Brice's contract included complete demolition of the interiors, the addition of floors to five of the structures and construction of a new, steel structure to connect the buildings at 523 Natchez and 323 Magazine.

That part of the project was, without a doubt, the most challenging, said Mitch Melancon, project manager for Brice.

"We had plans, but nothing was exactly like it was in the field," he added. Tying the structures together required a tremendous amount of on-site modifications to make all the elevations work with wood, concrete, steel and brick.

Due to foundation settling, the structure at 523 Natchez was leaning about 18 in., but Brice had to salvage the exterior walls so the owners could reap the benefits of historic tax credits. The contractor built new base footings and a steel skeleton that went to the roof of the four-story structure and horizontally tied into each floor with steel joints and straps.

"Everything had to be custom fabricated in the field to make those floors meet," Melancon said. "Ninety percent of this was done the only way you could do it, which is in the field."

The demolition, in addition to the removal of numerous interior walls, involved saw cutting about 100 openings. In the common wall between 313 and 315 Magazine, 35 openings were cut to create common areas in what would be the lobby and public portions of the hotel.

"When we started cutting them open, we found major voids between the bricks and grouting," Melancon said.

Architect John Campo said it was the first time in his 20 years of doing business in New Orleans that he had seen such a thing.

Masonry walls are usually solid, three and four wythes thick, said Campo, the president and CEO of John T. Campo & Associates Inc. Architect/Planners. The concrete typically used in the late 1800s often has up to three times the strength of concrete required by today's standards.

"Apparently, when it was built, the mason decided not to put mortar in those walls," Campo said. "It was just loose-laid, and I don't know how they held up."

Masonry Solutions International of Maryland was selected to handle the problem.

"They came in and drilled thousands of .5-in. holes, 8 in. on center, and blew out all the loose material with water and compressed air," Melancon said. Once the walls were clear of debris, the company pumped in a mortar that binded to the existing brick and filled in the voids.

"When they were pumping it in, as soon as the fill started shooting out they would plug up all of the holes," Melancon added. "Then they came back a day or two later to patch them."

Brice also discovered a 70-ft.-long wall with no footings that unfortunately marked the location of elevator shafts, steel supports tied into the roof and the main electrical vault that was to house all of the electrical and plumbing pass-throughs.

"That's what slowed us down," Melancon said. "We were supposed to be finished by Dec. 15, but we got an extension of 51 calendar days due to those structural deficiencies that weren't evident in the design phase."

The repair required that the contractor dig out the footing in 5-ft. increments to ensure the structural integrity of that wall.

"We would go in and form, put in the concrete and then brick back up to the wall and move on so the wall wouldn't fall in on itself," Melancon said. "We could run the electrical but we couldn't get the final power going."

Minnesota-based Carlson Group vowed to have the Country Inn & Suites open in time for the soft opening in January, said Bret Smith, vice president of hotel development services for Carlson Hotels worldwide.

"This is the first time we have tried a historic adaptation to the brand, which is generally one concept from one location to another because they feature ground-up, new hotels," Smith said.

Carlson decided to build this flagship, concept hotel in New Orleans primarily because of the historic tax credits offered by the Historic District Landmark Commission, the National Park Service and the state.

"The tax incentives were so attractive, we couldn't walk away from that," Smith said.

The New Orleans structures wrap around a central, open courtyard, a unifying theme that also fits right into the local, French Quarter ambience. There is a swimming pool in the courtyard (a must for Country Inn & Suites), as well as a fitness room and sundry shop.

Carlson boldly "took some risks" in allowing the architect to create a French Quarter-type balcony setting and an interior atrium, Campo said. By installing refurbished monitors, a skylight and ornate wrought-iron work and removing two-thirds of the joists in one particular section, the architect created an open feel in an area with no exterior windows.

"That atrium became the marquee of that project," Campo said. "As soon as you enter the building, you automatically pick up the historic fabric and texture of building."

Removing the 200-ft. rafters to create the atrium wasn't easy.

"We had to take them out 25 ft. at a time to maintain the structural integrity of the building," Melancon said. "Campo is only a few blocks away, which worked out really great. We needed that on a job like this, or carte blanche to take care of whatever in the field."