Eyesore to artist’s refuge: Blighted Bywater Naval base means different things to different people

Content warning: This story mentions suicide and includes descriptions of violence and drug use.  Sitting at the intersection of Poland Avenue and Dauphine Street, a chain-linked barbed wire fence straddles five blocks of residential homes before turning and encircling 25 acres of a concrete canvas of graffiti; three six-story buildings imposing their will over the Bywater neighborhood. Originally an Army supply depot during WWI, the towering complex served as a Port of Embarkation during WWII before it was transferred to the Navy’s possession in 1966. The Naval Support Activity (NSA) base was subsequently named after Louisiana’s longest-serving U.S. Congressman, F. Edward Herbert. Peggy Lou fondly remembers some of the 4,600 Navy sailors and Marines employed at the F. Edward Herbert complex. For years, she watched soldiers run by her home in the morning, listening for their testosterone-fueled chants. “They would accumulate with their tank tops and shorts,” she said. The rest of the Bywater women would also watch, ready to hand out a cold drink to any Marine who needed it. A part-time DJ for WWOZ, Lou is exceptionally hip for a 76-year-old. Like many of her neighbors, she moved to the area after Hurricane Katrina due to its minimal...