Melpomene Projects
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The Melpomene Projects, officially called the Guste Apartments, is located in Central City New Orleans and is one of the Housing Projects of New Orleans.
The complex occupies ten city blocks, bounded roughly by South Robertson Street, Clio Street, Simon Bolivar Avenue and Martin Luther King, Jr. Boulevard (formerly Melpomene Avenue.) There were six three-story buildings for families and a high-rise for the elderly. At a peak height of 12 stories, the Guste high-rise is the tallest public housing complex in the city.
The Melpomene Project was constructed in 1964. The site was once made up of single and multi-family houses; by the late 1950s the city declared them slums which paved the way for the project. It is the youngest surviving housing project in New Orleans. The high-rise underwent major renovations in 2002. In 2004-05, four of the six low-rise buildings were demolished after failing to meet the Housing Authority of New Orleans' economic viability guidelines.
It is one of few housing projects in the city that survived Hurricane Katrina with minimal wind damage and no flood damage. Subsequently, the demolition of the remaining two low rise buildings has been put on hold.
It is commonly referred to by the nickname "Melph".
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