Charity Hospital wasn't the only site option for Mayor Mitch Landrieu's plan to combine City Hall and Civil Court. Other possibilities included renovating the current City Hall location, building a whole new structure at Duncan Plaza, or moving to 1515 Poydras St., Rich Webster reports. The million-square foot hospital, flooded and damaged heavily during Hurricane Katrina, has been abandoned for the past eight years. The city's move into the Art Deco structure will be quite the undertaking, costing around $270 million. Renovating the present City Hall structure would have been the cheapest option ($6.4 million) but even they don't want to be there, admitting "City Hall remains an eyesore as you enter the CBD". The choice to house City Hall and the court system under one roof is part of Mayor Landrieu's plan to make city government more functional.
Breakdown of how New Orleans plans to pay to rehab Charity Hospital:
· $100 million from the state
· $33 million from historic tax credits
· $18 million from new tax credits
· $11 million from FEMA
· $30 million from recovery dollars
· $78 million from city-issued revenue bonds
· Charity Hospital One of Five Proposals Landrieu Considered for City Hall, Civil Court [Nola.com]