As a staff photographer for The Times-Picayune, I would occasionally climb the seven-story tower that was part of the building and crawl through a hatch at the top to get a perspective of the city. It was the tower, topped by a lighted, rotating sign with the name of the newspaper that made the building an icon in New Orleans. On the morning of August 30, 2005, 24 hours after Hurricane Katrina made landfall, I climbed the dark spiraling staircase and crawled through the small square hatch at the top. Through my camera lens, I saw people walking on the interstate in the direction of the battered Superdome. Others stopped in their tracks less than a block from the Broad Street pumping station, held at bay by at least four feet of water. A fire raged out of control in the distance. Frame by frame, I witnessed the city drowning. For years after, seeing the tower brought back a flood of memories and sadness of that day. While working on a project for the city’s convention bureau in 2013, I climbed the spiral stairs of the tower one last time. When I reached the top, instead of devastation, I saw the sheer beauty of our city. I stayed well into darkness, soaking in the new image, replacing that sad memory with hope. In the coming days, the tower will be demolished, but in my mind, it will never be forgotten.
Last Days of The Times-Picayune Tower
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