By Marissa Allweiss, Salvage Store Information Officer

For the past six months, the Rebuilding Together New Orleans’ Deconstruction Crew has hammered, sawed, built, and labored away in order to create a newly renovated addition to the Preservation Salvage Store. Known to RTNO as “the Marais lot,” this area of the store functions as a valuable work space and storage yard. What was once an abandoned piece of property is now a functional and spacious storage and shopping component vital to the Preservation Salvage Store.

In December, the Deconstruction Crew began the task of constructing this much needed extension of the store’s sales floor. The first step of this six month process was to create the surface of the yard. The Louisiana Land Trust donated crushed concrete that was recycled from old building foundations. The material was spread throughout the entire yard in order to protect the area from water damage. The following months consisted of our team and a host of volunteer groups assembling a sturdy fence, entrance gate, lumber barn, and metal racks. The Deconstruction Crew estimates roughly 95% of these components were built from reclaimed materials.

After a great deal of hard work and labor, the Marais lot is now filled with salvaged items made available for the community to purchase. The restored lot currently contains masonry, a variety of lumber, flooring, bathtubs, metal work and bricks. This important addition to the Preservation Salvage Store creates more work space for salvage efforts, and enables customers to locate items more easily. The Preservation Salvage Store views the renovations as an important part of our growing operation and outreach and impact on the city of New Orleans