New Orleans Historic District Landmarks Commission
Nomination Report
General Laundry, Cleaners, and Dyers Building

Figure 1. General Laundry, 2017

Meeting Date:

July 20, 2017

Property Address:

2525 Lafitte Avenue, 2532-36 St. Peters Street

Owner:

David Farnsworth
Southern Recycling, LLC
902 Julia St.
New Orleans, La 70113

Architect:

Jones, Roessle, Olschner, and Weiner

Construction Date:

1930

Significance:

Architectural

  


'4

.

 

a.

Figure 2. General Laundry, Le? Pavillion, 1930

Figure 3. Opening Announcement, 1930

General History
In 1929, Robert Chapoit commissioned the architectural firm
of Jones, Roessle, Olschner, and Weiner to design a new
building to replace his laundry business’s older facility which
had burned down; Chapoit wanted this new building to be
modern, utilitarian, state of the art, and beautiful. Jones,
Roessle, Olschner, and Weiner had just completed the
Municipal Auditorium in Shreveport.1 Samuel G. Weiner had
spearheaded the project, even though he had only recently
graduated from the University of Michigan, and the Atelier
Gromort, where he studied under Georges Gromort, at
L’École Nationale Supérieure Des Beaux-Arts de Paris.2 Weiner
had a “fascination in the late 1920s with abstract massing
and the decorative potential of brick, terra-cotta, and
stone.”3 The Municipal Auditorium is now considered to be
one of the best examples of art deco architecture in
Louisiana; it was placed on the National Register of Historic
Places in 1991, and was designated as a National Historic

(Veneziano 2013), (Bonner 2013), (Anderson 1979)
Ibid, Ibid, Ibid.
3 (Historic American Building Survey 2012), (Kingsley 2003)
1
2

3

Figure 4. Door Detail, 2015

 Landmark in 2008.4 O.M. Gwin Construction Company were brought on as contractors
for the new building; the construction cost was $130,000 and the total cost of the
building was $250,000.5
The new General Laundry Cleaners and Dyers building was different than anything else
in New Orleans in 1930 and was shocking in its opulence and irreverence. Vibrantly
colored and highly ornate, the General Laundry was high style late Art Deco; its
ornamentation closely related to the Mayan Revival style popular in the Southwest and
West Coast at the time. Through design and presentation, Robert Chapoit capitalized
on the depression era taste for grandeur and escapism.6 General Laundry opened May
30, 1930 to great fanfare; five thousand people attended the grand opening, along
with state and city officials.7 The visitors toured the business, danced to a live orchestra,
ate sandwiches, and “souvenirs were given to the women and children.”8 Robert
Chapoit spoke of the “modern laundry and its relationship to the home.”9 In the
upcoming
years, he
threw “style
shows,”
monthly
parties where
customers
could tour the
plant, and
mingle with
models who
were dressed
in fabrics
laundered at
the facility.10
Chapoit
wanted to
Figure 5. Photo Accompanying National Landmark Nomination, 1974
“show the
people of
New Orleans what beauty, grace, and attractiveness present-day laundering and
proper wearing can be had from home-spun cotton garments of this city.”11
(Venziano 2015, 34)
(General Laundry Now Ready! 1930), (Newest Laundry to Open Monday 1930)
6 (Veneziano 2013)
7 (New Laundry Plant Inspected by 5000 1930)
8 Ibid.
9 (Veneziano 2013)
10 Ibid.
11 Ibid.
4

55

4

 However, by the 1940’s, sending laundry out to be cleaned was becoming obsolete,
with the rise of the in-home washing machine.12 That,
coupled with numerous labor disputes, caused
Chapoit to sell the business and the building; in
December of 1945, a diaper company from New York
bought ten plants in New Orleans, including the
General Laundry.13 In 1952, that company sold the
building to Royal Crown Cola, to be used a bottling
plant.14 In September of 1973, RC Cola sold the
building to the US Postal Service for $430,000; the post
office planned to demolish it to build a parking lot.15
Figure 6. HABS Documentation, Library of

Those plans for demolition spurred the community into Congress, 1976
action. Jack Davis, of The States Item newspaper,
wrote in 1974, “Would the U.S. Postal Service tear down a beautiful building, a solid
building of architectural distinction and fun, just to have a parking lot?”16 Leroy Green,
a representative for the Post Office promised, “we would never destroy a building of
genuine recognized historic value;” Robert Drew, a project manager at Curtis and
Davis, the architectural firm working for the Post Office, assured Mr. Davis that, although
he had never seen the
building, the laundry was
“interesting” but not a
landmark.17 The Postal
Service insisted that “it is
not the policy of the
Postal Service to destroy
our architectural
heritage….(but the
General Laundry) was a
wretched example of an
art form no longer in
existence.”18 Arthur Scully,
Jr., an architectural
historian with the Louisiana
Figure 7 Parapet detail, undated.
Ibid.
Ibid.
14 (Veneziano 2013), (Davis, An Art Deco Marvel Faces Demolition Peril 1974)
15 (Veneziano 2013)
16 (Davis, An Art Deco Marvel Faces Demolition Peril 1974)
17 Ibid.
18 (Davis, Despite Protests, Unique Laundry Coming Down 1974)
12
13

5

 Landmarks Society, wrote to warn him that “postal officials (should) not presume to
judge what later generations will find valuable.”19 Professor Bernard Lemann, an
architectural historian at Tulane, argued that demolition of the building for the sake of
“car storage” would be “detrimental.” While Professor Donald Robertson, an art
historian, also at Tulane, called the demolition “willful vandalism.”20
The Louisiana Landmarks Society nominated the building
for placement on the National Register of Historic Places in
1974. As a compromise with the Postal Service, only the
façade was placed on the Register.21 The National Register
report is very spare, but states, “The building appears
intact with all the Art Deco motifs in their original unfaded
color as it was when erected in 1939 (sic). The effect of
colors, zigzags, undulations, Aztec-temple motifs,
diamonds, sun rises and rhythmic effect of the pilasters has
an arresting appearance. lt epitomizes, as does no other
Art Deco building in New Orleans…the Art Deco approach
of geometric patterns, rich colors and reliance on lndian
motifs.”22
The listing
Figure 9. Window Detail, 2010
spurred the
building’s inclusion into
the travelling 1974-1975 American Art Deco
Architecture exhibition put together by Finch
College in New York.23 The only other building
in New Orleans to be included in the
exhibition was the National American Bank
Building.24
Nonetheless, the Postal Service wanted to
see the building demolished; on March 20,
1975, they, and the Advisory Council for Historic Preservation held a public meeting on
the matter.25 The States-Item newspaper reported that, “Nearly all those attending the
meeting endorsed the preservation of the art deco style façade.”26At that meeting, the
Figure 8. Detail, undated

Ibid.
(Davis, Despite Protests, Unique Laundry Coming Down 1974) (Davis, Save Laundry Facade, Area
Residents Ask 1975)
21 (Veneziano 2013)
22 (Louisiana Office of Cultural Development 1974)
23 (Varian 1975)
24 Ibid.
25 (Advisory Council on Historic Preservation Public Information Meeting 1975)
26 (Davis, Save Laundry Facade, Area Residents Ask 1975)
19
20

6

 State Historic Preservation Office in Baton Rouge suggested four options, in descending
order of desirability:
1)
2)
3)
4)

Use of the building by the post office
Letting it stand vacant
Donating the façade portion (about 20’ deep) to a worthy owner
Demolition as a last resort27

The Postal Service voted to defer demolition for another six months after their meeting
with the Advisory Council.28 In 1980, the Postal Service sold the building to Richard and
Jules Cahn, the owners of the Dixie Mill Supply Company, for $241,300.
Southern Scrap Material Co. bought the building in 1986, with the title restriction in
place that the “new owners could do nothing to its exterior without first clearing the
plans with the State Historic Preservation Office.”29 In 2009, Southern Scrap Material
transferred the property to its subsidiary, Southern Recycling, L.L.C.30 In 2010, the building
was added to the
Louisiana
Landmarks
Society’s New
Orleans’ Nine
Most Endangered
list in 2010.31 In
August of 2014,
Southern
Recycling, L.L.C.
applied to the
City of New
Orleans for
demolition of the
building in order
to build a new
metal warehouse.
The application
Figure 10. General Laundry, undated
for demolition was
withdrawn on December 4, 2014.

(Arthur Scully 1976) (Advisory Council on Historic Preservation Public Information Meeting 1975)
Ibid.
29 (Rainey 2014)
30 (NEW ORLEANS REAL ESTATE TRANSFERS 2009)
31 (Louisiana Landmarks Society 2010)
27
28

7

 Figure 11. Detail, 2009

Building Description
The General Laundry Cleaners and Dyers building is a two-story, rectangular, stucco
over steel-reinforced concrete structure, with two projecting pavilions at either end; the
roofline at the façade features an undulating decorative coping made of blue
pyramids and stylized flowers. Heavily stylized papapets at the pavillions are festooned
with blue, green, and yellow zigzags, topped with green leaves, yellow daisies, jadecolored stylized floral sunbursts,
an interlocking basket weave of
jade, cornflower blue, and vivid
fuschia head casings adorned
with “palmettes and anthemiontype motifs.”32 Blue triangles
backed by yellow and orange
sunbursts crown the windows. A
coral and cornflower blue
Mesoamerican influenced
serpentine figure rests atop and
behind the sunbursts. Each
pavilion features an entrance to
the building, simple sans serif
lettering spells out “OFFICE”
above one doorway and
Figure 12. General Laundry, 2017
“EMPLOYEES” above the other.
The original doors and transoms had decorative triangular glass panels in starburst
patterns. The doorways are trimmed with fluted yellow tiles which are themselves
surrounded by coral blocks; long vertical windows sit atop these entrances, hemmed in
32

(Toledano and Christovich 1980, 188)

8

 by slender banded coral fluted tiles. The rectangular structure between the pavilions
features two bands of multi-casement windows – the sills of which are adorned with red
diamond shaped tiles - separated by pilasters which are topped with jade green tiles in
a highly stylized palmette and corn theme.33 Red tiled scuppers boasting an egg-anddart motif dot the roofline under the blue pyramidal coping.34 A course of blue, coral,
white, and black tiles in a chevron pattern runs along the bottom of the whole
structure.
Statement of Significance
The Historic District Landmarks Commission
evaluates the significance of a structure
based on four criteria as established by
Section 84.22 of the City Code, any one of
which can make a building eligible for
nomination. The staff finds that the
General Laundry building overwhelmingly
meets the criteria for architectural
significance, which is defined as any
building that embodies “distinguishing
characteristics of an architectural type or
specimen, inherently valuable for a study
of period, style, method of construction, or
of indigenous materials or craftsmanship.”

Figure 13 Window and tile detail, 2017

of those have been either demolished or
altered beyond recognition.35 In that
inventory, the General Laundry was
named “the most outstanding Art Deco
building in New Orleans…the detailing is
of such high caliber...”36 Indeed, the most
striking elements of the building are its
brightly colored, polychrome, terra cotta
ornamental motifs. The building is
adorned with sunbursts, diamonds,
33
34
35
36

A 1980 inventory of Art Deco buildings in
New Orleans listed twenty-five notable
examples in the city; as of 2017, over half

Figure 14. General Laundry Building, wide view, 2008

(Toledano and Christovich 1980, 188)
Ibid.

(Cangelosi 1980)
(Cangelosi 1980, 9)

9

 zigzags, waves, pyramids, triangles, arrows, flowers, chevrons, and various other
geometric decorative elements.37 The effect is whimsical, startling, bright, and
irreverent. This sort of highly detailed art deco architecture, while found in other parts of
the country, is exceptionally rare in Louisiana, and is completely unique in New Orleans.
While the building has been
very poorly maintained, the
terracotta is still amazingly
vibrant and mostly intact. This
building is wholly singular in
New Orleans, and is an
extremely exciting example
of the heights that industrial
architecture can achieve.
Staff Recommendation
Based on the architectural
Figure 16. General Laundry, 1930’s
Figure 15 General Laundry, 1930's
merits of this building, the
staff recommends
nomination of the General Laundry Cleaners and Dyers building for study as a
landmark.
Works Cited

The Editors of Encyclopædia Britannica. "Art Deco." Encyclopædia Britannica. February
2, 2017. https://www.britannica.com/art/Art-Deco (accessed June 12, 2017).
Anderson, Lawrence B. "Rereading Gromort." JAE (Taylor & Francis, Ltd.) 33, no. 2
(November 1979): 18-21.
Arthur Scully, Jr. "The Latest on the Laundry." Preservation Press, February 1976: 1.
Bonner, Judith. "Jones, Roessle, Olschner, and Weiner Firm Years." In The New
Encyclopedia of Southern Culture, Art and Architecture ed., by Judith Bonner,
edited by Center for the Study of Souther Culture at the University of Mississippi.
The University of North Carolina Press, 2013.
Cangelosi, Robert J. "Art Deco, part II: the output." Presevation Press of New Orleans,
April 20, 1980: 8-9.

37

(Capace 1999, 299)

10

 Capace, Nancy. "General Laundry Building." Encyclopedia of Louisiana, January 1,
1999: 569.
Davis, Jack. "An Art Deco Marvel Faces Demolition Peril." The States-Item, August 7,
1974: A-15.
—. "Despite Protests, Unique Laundry Coming Down." The States-Item, September 11,
1974: A-15.
—. "Save Laundry Facade, Area Residents Ask." The States-Item, March 21, 1975: 2.
Historic American Building Survey. Municipal Memorial Auditorium. WRITTEN HISTORICAL
AND DESCRIPTIVE DATA, Washington, DC: National Park Service, 2012.
Jewish Endowment Foundation of Louisiana Annual Report 2013. "Tzedakah Award The
Cahn Family." 2013: 4.
Kingsley, Karen. Buildings of Louisiana. New York: Oxford University Press, 2003.
Louisiana Landmarks Society. "New Orleans 9 Most Endangered Sites 2010." New
Orleans: Louisiana Landmarks Society, 2010.
Louisiana Office of Cultural Development. General Laundry Building. CRT National
Historic Landmark Nomination, Baton Rouge: Louisiana Office of Cultural
Development, 1974.
New Orleans States. "Newest Laundry to Open Monday." May 23, 1930: 4.
Preservation Press of New Orleans. "General Laundry." November 1978: 12.
Rainey, Richard. "A New Orleans Historic Art Deco Facade Faces Demolition." The TimesPicayune, November 26, 2014.
The Item Tribune. "General Laundry Now Ready!" May 25, 1930: 30-32.
The States-Item. "Advisory Council on Historic Preservation Public Information Meeting."
March 5, 1975: 47.
The Times-Picayune. "New Laundry Plant Inspected by 5000." May 31, 1930: 2.
Times-Picayune. "NEW ORLEANS REAL ESTATE TRANSFERS." February 21, 2009: 36.
Toledano, Roulhac, and Mary Louise Christovich. New Orleans Architecture. Vol. 4.
Gretna, La: Pelican Publishing Company, 1980.
Varian, Elayne H. American Art Deco Architecture. New York: Finch College, 1975.

11

 Veneziano, Heather. The General Laundry Building of New Orleans. New Orleans: Tulane
School of Architecture, 2013.
Venziano, Heather. "Art Deco Wonder." Preservation in Print, March 2015: 33-35.

Figure Attribution
Figure 1. General Laundry, 2017, Author’s Own.
Figure 2. Left pavilion, 1930. Venziano, Heather. "Art Deco Wonder." Preservation in Print,
March 2015: 33-35.
Figure 3. Opening Announcement, 2013, New Orleans Item (Published as The Item
Tribune), May 25, 1930.
Figure 4. Door Detail, 2015. Venziano, Heather. "Art Deco Wonder." Preservation in Print,
March 2015: 33-35.
Figure 5. Photo from National Landmark Listing, 1974. HABS photo, Library of Congress,
1976.
Figure 6. HABS Documentation, Library of Congress, 1976.
http://www.loc.gov/pictures/item/la0532/ (assessed June 7, 2017).
Figure 7. Cornice Detail, undated.
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:General_Laundry_Building,_New_Orlean
s#/media/File:General_Laundry_New_Orleans_Corner.jpg (assessed June 29, 2017).
Figure 8. Window Detail, 2010. Jennie Peach. http://punkinmonk.blogspot.com/
(assessed June 25, 2017).
Figure 9. Detail, undated. Clio and Associates. http://clioassociates.tumblr.com/page/2
(assessed June 29, 2017).
Figure 10. Untitled Image, undated. Clio and Associates.
http://clioassociates.tumblr.com/page/2 (assessed June 29, 2017).
Figure 11. Detail, 2009. Kevin O’Mara.
http://www.flickriver.com/places/United+States/Louisiana/New+Orleans/Treme+Lafitte/
search/ (assessed June 28, 2017).
Figure 12. General Laundry, 2017, Author’s Own.
Figure 13. Window and tile detail, 2017, Author’s Own.

12

 Figure 14. General Laundry Building, wide view, 2008.
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:General_Laundry_Building,_New_Orlean
s#/media/File:MidCityGeneralLaundry18Sept08FromOrleans.jpg (assessed June 29,
2017).
Figure 15. Untitled, 1930. Venziano, Heather. "Art Deco Wonder." Preservation in Print,
March 2015: 33-35.

13