Parking lot will replace Anthro House

After ruling out a replacement building for financial reasons, Tulane decided to replace the Anthropology Building with a parking lot.

The historic building’s demolition remains controversial.

Though the Federal Emergency Agency offered to pay to repair the Anthropology Building, the amount of damage to the building warranted an entirely new building in its place, said Rick Jones, senior associate vice president of Capital Projects and Real Estate Group. He said that Tulane needed enough funds from FEMA to replace the building rather than repair it.

“When they [FEMA] do make their determination whether we have the option to replace the structure, it can be years down the road, and in that time we can use those dollars to do something else,” Jones said.

FEMA offered about $389,717 in public assistance funding for repair of the building, FEMA spokesman Andrew Thomas said. Tulane is instead using those funds for the demolition of the building.

“FEMA is aware that Tulane University believes that the Anthropology Building should be a replacement facility and funded accordingly,” Thomas said. “FEMA is working with Tulane University to discuss their concerns with the FEMA repair versus replacement analysis.”

Tulane law student Brad Vogel spoke out against getting rid of the building before demolition began.

“It’s interesting that for all of President Scott Cowen’s trumpeting about a green campus, his administration decided to tear down an existing structure and put up a parking lot,” Vogel said. “There were no signs of a serious effort to preserve. There was no call for creative student-inspired adaptive solutions for the space. There was no fundraising drive to renovate and reduce the need for an additional building. There was hardly any discussion at all with the campus population before the metal fences ringed the building and it was too late.”

Rick Jones said that the demolition was approved through a historical review process.

“They had two hearings on that, and we passed all of those hurdles and any of the issues with the city,” said Yvette Jones, executive vice president for university relations and development.

Yvette Jones said that the Anthropology Building sustained severe damage from Hurricane Katrina.

“That building housed administrative offices for [the anthropology] department,” Yvette Jones said. “They’ve been spread around campus, now in a house on Audubon on the other side, and will move into Dinwiddie Hall next fall.”

The specifications of the parking lot, including the number of parking spots and who will be able to use it, remain undecided, Yvette Jones said.

Vogel, however, said he doubts the lot is large enough to add a substantial amount of parking.

“If the administration was looking for more parking, perhaps it should have refrained from closing McAlister Drive,” Vogel said.