Streamline Moderne Service Station, 1429 S. Jefferson Davis, c. 1940s, photo by Francine Stock
This curvilinear concrete and glass block service station on Jefferson Davis Parkway is threatened with demolition. The building is situated directly across Earhart from the Blue Plate Building (August Perez, Jr., 1941, National Register of Historic Places). In Modernism in Louisiana: A Decade of Progress 1930-1940 Karen Kingsley describes a similar station, which has since been demolished. "The smooth lines and essentially the curved forms of modernism were suggestive of speed and motion. These forms were considered particularly suitable for buildings connected with travel. This gas station of the 1940s echoes the curvaceous forms of automobiles of the era."
A city-initiated request for a demolition permit will be reviewed by the Neighborhood Conservation District Committee on Monday March 1, 2010 at 2pm in City Council Chambers, City Hall. The Preservation Resource Center has photos of all buildings on Monday's NCDC agenda.
