A Morning Call coffee and beignet shop, absent from the French Quarter for almost 40 years, could soon open in its old neighborhood. The Vieux Carre Commission gave conceptual approval Tuesday to a proposal to demolish an old service station at the intersection of Conti, Decatur and North Peters streets and replace it with a new Morning Call. The...
A Morning Call coffee and beignet shop, absent from the French Quarter for almost 40 years, could soon open in its old neighborhood. The Vieux Carre Commission gave conceptual approval Tuesday to a proposal to demolish an old service station at the intersection of Conti, Decatur and North Peters streets and replace it with a new Morning Call.
The commission's staff described the proposed building -- a two-story structure with a roof terrace and seating for 300 customers -- as "a transparent glass cube surrounded by a filigree of decorative metal work."
It would replace a vacant gas station that was built around 1925, plus a surface parking lot. On top of the existing building is a large billboard.
For much of the 20th century the Morning Call and the Cafe du Monde, a few blocks from each other in the French Market, battled for the loyalty of local and visiting lovers of cafe au lait and beignets. But in 1974 owners of the Morning Call closed their shop in protest at rising rents and disruption caused by a major renovation of the entire French Market under the administration of Mayor Moon Landrieu.
Morning Call, founded by the Jurisich family in 1870, moved to Metairie, setting up shop on Severn Avenue behind Lakeside Mall. More recently it opened a second shop in the Casino building in City Park.
Over the years, various other coffee and doughnut shops have tried to take its place in the French Quarter, such as Cafe Beignet on Royal Street, but the memory of Morning Call still looms large for many older New Orleanians.
The Vieux Carre Commission staff recommended that the commission give conceptual approval to Morning Call's proposal, which the staff called "well suited to the location." The commission agreed Tuesday, The Advocate reported, although the action won't become final for another month because the proposed demolition must lie over for 30 days before it can be approved. The staff said the old gas station building "contributes to the character of the district" and is "a good example of the decorative brick style," but it did not object to the demolition.
Final details of the new construction must also be submitted to the staff and the Architectural Committee for approval, and the Board of Zoning Adjustments must consider the request for a waiver of required open space.
The staff noted that it has received about a half dozen proposals during the past two years for redevelopment of the old service station site. It said the Morning Call proposal stood out for its "defined client and more appropriate site response."
The Morning Call owners also have proposed closing the short block of Conti that separates their site from Bienville Park, the small triangular park that contains sculptor Angela Gregory's 26-foot-high bronze statue of the founder of New Orleans. A decision on that request, if the owners want to pursue it, would be up to the Department of Public Works, City Planning Commission and City Council.