Noteworthy in Nola

This massive building operated under the Bultman name for 123 years until Katrina shut it down.

A list of Bultman’s ‘clients’ reads like a who’s-who of NOLA history, but some of the most nationally notable were Confederate President Jefferson Davis and Jayne Mansfield.

Tennessee Williams set his play Suddenly Last Summer inside the sprawling building.

Aside from funerals, Bultman’s was a great place to have a party for the living, and they often did. The family had gathered an impressive art collection, and guests were invited to stroll the halls to view the pieces.

I was only in the building once, in 2004, when Save Our Cemeteries had a parade watching party & fundraiser, and the interior was as spectacular as the exterior.*

And then came Katrina.

From Bultman Funeral Home Renovation 11 29 07

The building took millions of dollars worth of damage, and there just wasn’t the money to repair or the population left in the city to operate the business, so it went on the market, where it sat for almost two years.

When the Borders deal was announced, there were mixed reactions. At least the exterior would be preserved, though everything inside would be gutted and rebuilt. Between Katrina damage and the weight of thousands of books, everything needed reinforcement anyway.

This will be the only chain bookstore in the city limits, and the small boutique stores nearby aren’t happy, obviously. I’m optimistic about the local stores, though. They’ve got a sort of cozy cache that Border’s will never have. Local authors go there for readings all the time and they’ve always got lots of autographed copies.

And in the meantime, we’ve saved as much of this beautiful white elephant as we can.

From Bultman Funeral Home Renovation 11 29 07

*Also making that night memorable was Elijah Wood as King of Bacchus. Alison managed to get a load of stuff from him. She had to run three blocks to do it, but…

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