General Laundry, Cleaners and Dyers Building

The General Laundry, Cleaners, and Dyers Building was completed in May 1930 and was owned by Robert Chapoit. The General Laundry was built after a structure fire destroyed a previous laundry. Chapoit hired the architectural firm of Jones, Roessel, Olschner and Wiener to complete the project. The General Laundry cost $250,000 to build and its unveiling was attended by over 5,000 people ranging from everyday citizens, businessmen, to politicians. The facility was innovative in its Art Deco and terra-cotta designs and offered a cultural center for the city of New Orleans. The General Laundry became a scene of monthly fashion shows, promoting what could be done with both exotic and homespun garments that were laundered correctly. With the rise of new in-home washing machines, laundering facilities saw decreased business beyond commercial clients. After just fifteen years of operation, the General Laundry, Cleaners, and Dyers building was forced to close its doors. In December of 1945 Chapoit sold the building to a diaper company, another business whose economic model was challenged by changing consumer preferences.

The old General Laundry Building has changed hands many times over the years after it was sold by the diaper company. Royal Crown Cola, the U.S Postal Service, Dixie Mill Supply, and the Southern Scrap Material Company have all called this building home. Once the building sold to the Postal Service in 1974, and plans were announced to demolish and replace the structure with a parking lot, the race to save the historic architecture of the General Laundry began. Historians, preservationists, and architects gathered in mass support of the building and the Louisiana Landmarks Society nominated the General Laundry for inclusion to the National Register of Historic Places. Compromising with the Postal Service only allowed for the exterior façade of the building to be protected and added to the National Register. Controversy drove the Postal Service away from the idea of demolition and they sold the building in 1980.

Once the building was sold to Southern Scrap Material Co. in 1986, there was a title restriction placed on the deed stating that they could not make changes to the exterior façade without permission from the State Historic Preservation Office. For almost three decades, Southern Scrap allowed the General Cleaners to fall into an extreme state of disrepair. Once they transferred the property to their subsidiary Southern Recycling L.L.C, the company applied for a demolition permit. However, a few months later the permit was withdrawn, they continue the process of demolition by “neglect.”

The Louisiana Landmarks Society named the General Laundry, Cleaners, and Dyers Building to their “10 Most Endangered Places” list in order to raise awareness and protect it. The current strategy is to seek Landmark Status from the City’s Historic District Landmark Commission. This will provide some protection for the General Laundry against demolition. In 2017, Carol Gniady, head of the Louisiana Landmarks Society, personally nominated the General Laundry, Cleaners and Dyers building for landmark status by the New Orleans Historic District Landmarks Commission. With the nomination comes the temporary Landmark Status which gives the city some authority to prevent either deliberate razing or "demolition by neglect."

Freund, Helen. Group hopes to preserve General Laundry, Cleaners and Dyers building with historic landmark status, Nola.com. July 23rd 2017. Accessed July 4th 2020. https://www.nola.com/news/article_210dbb16-df96-5a17-9d5f-911864022977.html.

Chauvin, Stephen. Can it be saved? Art Deco classic needs — and deserves — landmark designation, The Lens. July 18th 2017. Accessed July 4th 2020. https://thelensnola.org/2017/07/18/can-it-be-saved-art-deco-classic-needs-and-deserves-landmark-designation/.

The Advocate: Group Hopes to Preserve General Laundry, Cleaners, and Dyers Building with Historic Landmark Status, Louisiana Landmarks Society. Accessed July 4th 2020. https://www.louisianalandmarks.org/news/2018/7/6/group-hopes-to-preserve-general-laundry-cleaners-and-dyers-building-with-historic-landmark-status.

Lott, Nathan. Despite years of decay, these long-blighted buildings are ripe for renovation, Preservation Resource Center of New Orleans. February 1st 2020. Accessed July 4th 2020. https://prcno.org/despite-years-decay-long-blighted-buildings-ripe-renovation/.