Musicians' Village - Part 1

On April 29 I went to see Musicians' Village. This development is being built in the Upper Ninth Ward on the site of Kohn Junior High School - an area bounded by Roman, Johnson, Alvar and Mazant Streets. The Village was the idea of Harry Connick, Jr. and Branford Marsalis, who are working with Habitat for Humanity to build homes for musicians who lost theirs to Katrina. There will also be an Ellis Marsalis Center for Music. Normally, when Habitat for Humanity builds a home they require the recipient to put in a large number of hours of labor on the house, but in this case they are allowing musicians to spend the same time providing music lessons instead.

When I saw the project two years ago the land had been cleared and some of the houses had been framed. Now many houses have been finished and people are living in them. It looked to me like the Village was about half complete.