Hey Blake,
You have frequently had columns responding to readers' questions and concerns about what is being done to halt the declining number of sites in our city's important jazz history. Unfortunately we have been losing too many reclaimable places through neglect, indecision, oversight and funding delays. Today I am happy to update your readers who have had questions about the facts and fate of the once-popular jazz site, the Halfway House at 102 City Park Ave. The site is presently part of the Orleans Parish 911 communications complex planned for the adjacent grounds. The original structure, which has withstood an interior fire, abandonment and Hurricane Katrina will soon be the focus of a project sponsored by the New Orleans Jazz Restoration Society, a nonprofit, 501C-3 corporation, which has made it its immediate mission to restore this and other important but fast-disappearing traditional New Orleans jazz landmarks. Once it has been restored and revitalized, we believe the public and the tourism industry will welcome the opportunity to bring back "the good old days," perhaps arriving by the famous Canal Street streetcars, touring the cemeteries nearby, where many of our earliest and most famous musicians are buried, and then enjoying classic New Orleans food and jazz programs in the venerable Halfway House. It's coming! Interested persons can become involved with this project by contacting the New Orleans Jazz and Restoration Society at 891-4981 or 488-0966. Both tax-deductible donations and professional counsel are welcome. Blake, we appreciate your consistent interest and research into New Orleans history.

Bob Ice and Bob McIntyre

Dear Bob and Bob,
Thank you for your efforts to save our city and its jazz traditions. I am more than happy to help in any way. If there are readers who wish to become involved in the restoration of the Halfway House, the New Orleans Jazz Restoration Society can use your help.

In the 1900s, this now-deteriorating building was the Halfway House, so named because it was halfway between the city and Pontchartrain Beach. It was a popular live-music venue that drew young people who liked to dance to and hear jazz (see "Blake Pontchartrain" Feb. 27). The New Orleans Jazz and Restoration Society hopes to restore the structure.

Hey Blake,
Please settle a debate regarding our lake. I've been told by a couple of people that Lake Pontchartrain is man-made. I say that it's not true.

MAC

Dear MAC,
I don't want to insult your friends, so I'll just believe that they are pulling your leg. I can guarantee you and your friends that Lake Pontchartrain has been here a very long time.

The geologic history of the lake actually began about 20,000 years ago, when glaciers covered most of the continent of North America. Gradually, glaciers melted, water levels rose and eventually the lake was created between 2,600 and 4,000 years ago as the evolving Mississippi River Delta formed its southern and eastern shorelines with alluvial deposits.

For centuries, Native Americans lived along the shores, and the Choctaw name for the lake was Okwata, meaning wide water. In 1699, French explorer Pierre Le Moyne d'Iberville gave it a new name to honor Louis Phelypeaux, comte de Pontchartrain, the French Minister of the Marine and Minister of Finance during the reign of France's "Sun King" Louis XIV. Of course, the entire state was named for the king.

The lake is about 40 miles long and 24 miles wide with an area of about 630 square miles, and the average depth is 12 to 14 feet. It is a brackish lake and the second-largest saltwater lake in the United States after the Great Salt Lake in Utah.

Lake Pontchartrain is connected with two other lakes -- also not man-made. On the eastern side it connects with the Gulf of Mexico via the Rigolets strait and Chef Menteur Pass into Lake Borne, which causes it to experience small tidal changes. Fresh water comes into the lake from the Tangipahoa, Tchefuncte, Tickfaw, Amite, and Bogue Falaya rivers as well as from Bayou Lacombe. On the western side, the lake connects with Lake Maurepas via Pass Manchac. This smaller lake was discovered at the same time as Pontchartrain and named in honor of Jerome Phelypeaux, comte de Maurepas, the son of Louis Phelypeaux.

While man did not create Lake Pontchartrain, we have certainly had a very large hand in its pollution. Today, however, we have the Lake Pontchartrain Basin Foundation, a dedicated group of folks working to restore and preserve the entire Lake Pontchartrain Basin.