5701 Pratt

This is very odd.

A demolition permit for a privately owned house along the London Avenue canal was given to the contractor on the London Avenue canal remediation contract, Integrated Pro Services, on October 4, 2011.

Permit 11BLD-06904 authorizes IPS to demolish 5701 Pratt.

This property falls within an area the Corps said they would use as a staging area during the remediation repairs; it is not behind any of the areas actually remediated. Supposedly all the substantial work on the London Avenue canal is done. So what is going on here?

[UPDATE: More than likely, this is just for the removal of the contractor's construction trailer at this site (see the last page of the Corps' monthly remediation updates - such as this one from the end of April, 2011 - for confirmation of the location), and the New Orleans Safety & Permits department incorrectly typed in the permit as a private home. So it's probably not odd at all.]

[UPPERDATE: I have been told this demolition is actualy for flood protection purposes, and that the house was to be purchased by the Orleans Levee District, though the assessor's record doesn't reflect such a sale. According to a comment by the owner on an unrelated nola.com article last year, the purpose of the sale was to allow better access to the London Avenue canal levee.]