News Roundup

The Times-Picayune
By Ramon Antonio Vargas
Thursday, December 03, 2009

A summary of Wally Thurman’s life hangs on a wall in the front room of his lower Mid-City home, a 12-by-12 room he was born in 80 years ago.

A framed photograph shows a choir-loft view of St. Joseph Catholic Church in the 1800 block of Tulane Avenue, where he was baptized. Smiling portraits show his parents, grandmother and two college-age grandchildren. Another shows a handsome, clean-shaven Thurman, shortly after achieving the rank of Air Force private in the 1950s. A recent snapshot, taken at a Las Vegas club, captured the moment Thurman’s arms cradled two voluptuous women, dressed in snow-white bustiers and Santa hats. One wore platinum blonde hair, the other raven-colored hair. Thurman wore a roguish smile.

Thurman, whose birthday was Nov. 21, ducked his head in mild embarrassment and explained, “I think I was supposed to pay those ladies for that photo. Oh, well. I didn’t.”

But the days, months, and years that unfolded after each shutter click always took him back to one place: 217 S. Tonti St., a shotgun home about a block-and-a-half off Canal Street. He inherited it from his parents, who inherited it from his mother’s parents, and he still lives there.

“This ground is mine,” the retired steamfitter said. “It’s been my life.”

These days, though, his home sits precisely where the federal government wants to erect a 200-bed Veterans Affairs Hospital. In November 2007, Mayor Ray Nagin signed a deal promising the feds the land to build it — an area bounded by Tulane Avenue, South Rocheblave Street, Canal Street and South Galvez Street.

Thurman’s home and those of his neighbors may be doomed if government officials carry out their plan, so Thurman decided to do his best to slow them down.

When news broke about the deal, Thurman’s mind reeled. The deal also threatened a home he owns on Palmyra Street, which houses two apartments he rents out for an income of about $1,250 a month. On top of that, decades of memories were on the brink of being bulldozed.

Thurman’s grandfather raised horses in the backyard barn of the Tonti Street home, using them to draw a carriage to deliver ice to neighbors. His mother, Mildred, managed a beauty parlor in the front room. His father, Charles, helped an uncle operate a photo studio in an adjoining room.

Decades later, Hurricane Katrina’s floodwaters devastated Mid-City. Phoenix of New Orleans recovery volunteers who partnered with AmeriCorps flocked to the area, gutted homes and refurbished roofs.