Trader Joe’s begins demolition for new store in Uptown New Orleans

NEW ORLEANS (WGNO) — Demolition has begun for the new Trader Joe’s grocery store that is set to open on the corner of Freret Street and Napoleon Avenue in Uptown New Orleans.

For the past few weeks, demolition crews have been demolishing the Old Lady of Lourdes School, which was nearly 70 years old.

WGNO’s Jordan Lippincott reported back in July that The Historic District Landmarks Commission initially prohibited the grocery store developers from demolishing the old Our Lady of Lourdes School, which sits at the corner of Napoleon Avenue and Freret Street.

“To talk about food deserts, we need to continue to push our city to invest in stores, like Trader Joe’s, and other stores that have prices that our people can actually afford,” said New Orleans City Councilwoman Lesli Harris.

Advocates for historic preservation, like Susan Johnson, much preferred previous plans for the former school that was built in 1957, and according to her, honored the history of Our Lady of Lourdes Parish, which precedes the school.

“It’s very problematic because, again, a building is either historic, or it’s not,” said Johnson, who works with Historic New Orleans Neighborhoods LLC. “The federal government granted that it was in 2022 for this affordable housing project.”

Developers for an older adult facility, to be called the Our Lady of Lourdes Apartments, failed to get the project off the ground.

Some who live Uptown support the opening of Trader Joe’s, saying the property has been an eyesore for quite some time.

“It’s just really unsightly and really unusable,” said neighbor Gregory Moore. “We are pretty happy to have a Trader Joe’s moving in. Something that’s going to take up a really beautiful piece of real estate, and, I think, really be helpful for the people in the community.”
           
Johnson says for historic preservationists like herself, it’s always onto the next issue.

“I think a lot of our work consists in putting facts on the record, as we’re doing now, I hope, and not letting the past be forgotten,” Johnson said.

There was also conversation about adaptive reuse, which means using a portion of the old school for the Trader Joe’s, but those plans didn’t gain steam either.

No word yet on when the new Trader Joe’s will begin construction and eventually will open. This will be the first Trader Joe’s in New Orleans. Currently, there is one location in Metairie on Veterans Avenue.

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