Katrina Hotel

I'm about six years late on this press release, but here it goes.

I was hit with a shock wave of news when I found out that a building from my past was imploded in 2012.

That building was the Grand Palace Hotel on Canal St. in New Orleans.

The year was 2006, and it was roughly fourteen or fifteen months after Hurricane Katrina. During that time I was a freshman in college and it was Mission Week or Saint Louis Christian College's version of Spring Break.

It was during this week that I went down to New Orleans with several of my classmates to help gut a few houses so the local people could rebuild.

The demolition part of the gig was hard work but a lot of fun. We removed everything including appliances, personal property, walls, and everything down to the wood beams.

After long days of work, we would walk around the downtown area, but before we hit up the town we would get cleaned up at the Grand Palace Hotel, a 17-story building that had been without power and drinkable water since Hurricane Katrina.

Our room was ten stories up, and there was no elevator, so we became accustomed to climbing many steps that week. To add some insult to the situation, we also had to bring 24-packs of water upstairs. Of course, I had to be a hero, so I took up two 24-packs at a time.

I remember the water being kind of cold, but I can't remember if that was because the water heaters were down or because I was always one of the last ones to hit the shower.

I do remember thinking that the cold showers weren't terrible considering how hot and humid it was in the hotel, and when you stepped outside the humidity was nearly unbearable.I remember walking around New Orleans at night and sweating through my clothing. I remember walking downstairs in that hotel to meet other schools and organizations that also volunteered their time to help simply because a large community in our country had a need.

That hot, humid, and powerless hotel has stayed in my head for years and a week ago I found out that it was demolished by tons of dynamite in 2012.

Every time my wife and I talked about my time in New Orleans, I remember thinking I wish I could show her that hotel. I had secretly hoped that it was renovated and back on its feet. Thanks to over a dozen Youtube videos I learned that things just went downhill over the next few years. It failed inspection because of a rat infestation. People also vandalized the hotel to the point that the building was an eyesore and it was hazardous to people that lived around the hotel. Then came the dynamite implosion that insured that not only would I not see a thriving Grand Palace Hotel, but I wouldn't get a chance to even look at that structure ever again.