Lary P. Hesdorffer, Director of the VCC, said the willingness of the Foundation to spearhead this urgently needed project “is just ideal” in the face of crucial issues of security, pedestrian safety and aesthetics in the neighborhood visited by more than 8 million people per year. Old guidelines have become obsolete as new technology in design, control and gradations of illumination become commonplace, he said.

Historically, the Vieux Carre was a very dark place. Recent and rather anarchic additions of spot lights, colored lights, neon, up-lighting of buildings, and bright, cold halogen lights have created an inconsistent and often inappropriate appearance. The new lighting study will experiment to discover “appropriate levels of illumination for even lighting of the public right-of-way that avoids both pitch black and lights that look radioactive they are so bright,” Mr. Hesdorffer said.

After reviewing proposals from seven expert contractors, the distinguished New York lighting firm of Tillotson Design Associates has been selected for the project. Its expertise in exterior building illumination and restoration and renovation projects makes it an excellent fit. It has won numerous awards for its projects at universities, parks and public spaces including the New Museum of Contemporary Art in New York. Suzan Tillotson is the 2012 recipient of the Distinguished Alumni Award at Louisiana State University’s College of Art and Design.

Results of the study, made possible by the many generous donations to the VCC Foundation, are expected in about 90 days.

Longtime French Quarter resident and activist attorney Stuart Smith received the Elizebeth T. Werlein Award, the highest honor given by the Vieux Carre Commission, when the commission presented architectural awards last week for the second time since Hurricane Katrina. The awards covered projects completed in the French Quarter from 2008 through 2011.

In presenting the Werlein award, Nathan Chapman, the 2008 recipient, described Smith as “tireless in his pro bono legal work for the French Quarter.” Smith has helped create and set preservation law through his lawsuits, “some of which have gone to the state Supreme Court, setting important precedents,” Chapman said.

Smith has often battled what he considered illegal commercial intrusions into residential parts of the Quarter and businesses that he said create excessive noise. In 2003 he led an effort to expand the commission’s authority over changes of use in historic buildings. Previously, the commission took the position that it had no authority to authorize or block a change of use, only to regulate architectural changes.

The Werlein Award, established in 1986 as part of the commission’s 50th anniversary celebration, honors individuals and groups who have made “distinguished contributions to the preservation of the Vieux Carre.” It is named for Elizebeth Werlein, who in 1936 led the successful effort to amend the state Constitution to authorize creation of a body to oversee preservation of the Vieux Carre.

Commission Chairman Ralph Lupin and Director Lary Hesdorffer presented the architectural awards, which recognize excellence in restoration, renovation, reconstruction, rehabilitation and new construction.
The commission formerly presented awards every year, but since Katrina it had held only one previous ceremony, in 2008, honoring projects completed during 2004-07.

Certificates of honor, the commission’s top architectural awards, went to the following properties:

In presenting the Werlein award, Nathan Chapman, the 2008 recipient, described Smith as “tireless in his pro bono legal work for the French Quarter.” Smith has helped create and set preservation law through his lawsuits, “some of which have gone to the state Supreme Court, setting important precedents,” Chapman said.

Smith has often battled what he considered illegal commercial intrusions into residential parts of the Quarter and businesses that he said create excessive noise. In 2003 he led an effort to expand the commission’s authority over changes of use in historic buildings. Previously, the commission took the position that it had no authority to authorize or block a change of use, only to regulate architectural changes.

The Werlein Award, established in 1986 as part of the commission’s 50th anniversary celebration, honors individuals and groups who have made “distinguished contributions to the preservation of the Vieux Carre.” It is named for Elizebeth Werlein, who in 1936 led the successful effort to amend the state Constitution to authorize creation of a body to oversee preservation of the Vieux Carre.