 urn left here and cross the street halfway down the block. Walk down the pedestrian mall that runs between the United States Courthouse on the left and the Court of Appeals on the right. This is the: - Lafayette Mall, originally designed as a pedestrian connector from the Superdome to the Riverfront, but only partially completed. Walk to Magazine Street via the mallway, and turn left. Cross Poydras Street once again, and stop at the opposite corner. The:
 Bon Ton Cafe' occupies a fine example of a mid-19th century classically designed brick commercial building. It was built in the 1840s, and purchased by John Fleming,
who established his Patent Medicine Depot there, and restored in 1971. At the ground level are cast-iron pillars with decorated and foliated capitals. The Bonton Cafe' opened here in 1953, and has been a popular eating spot for years. Cross Magazine Street here, and at 400-08 Magazine is the:Natchez Building, built in the 1840s as a row of five identical four-story stores. Fine cast-iron brackets support a shed roof across the front of the row, and granite pillars run the entire length also. To the left of this row, across narrow Natchez Alley, on the corner, is the: - Banks Arcade, 336 Magazine. Only a fragment of the original block-long building remains, that of the three corner segments at Magazine and Natchez. As built in 1833, the red brick structure was a unified row, with granite pillars at the ground level
and a parapet with a central pediment at the roof. Designed by Charles Zimple for Thomas Banks, the building was to be a gathering place for merchants, or a sort of mini-mall, and had a three-story-high glass-roofed pedestrian arcade that stretched the entire length of the building. Located within were a fine restaurant, and a richly-appointed salon that could handle up to 500 people. The high roof ballustrade was removed and cast-iron galleries added after the Civil War, and the surviving fragment was restored in 1941 by Emilio Levy. A portion of the building now houses the new St James Hotel. Walk further down Magazine Street for a half block until you come to the fenced-in plaza on the right, the:
- Board of Trade Place, with the Board of Trade Building behind it. Loosely based on late Renaissance and
Baroque influences, the Board of Trade Building was designed by James Freret and built in 1883. Known as the Produce Exchange until 1889, for years it served as a sort of commodities exchange for the Mississippi Valley, where traders could track the prices of everything from cotton to grain. Until the 1960s it was hidden behind a segment of the old St James Hotel, which stood where the plaza stands today. After various renovations and fires altered the condition of the hotel, it was demolished in 1967, and an open plaza was designed by Richard Koch and Samuel Wilson Jr in 1968. Cast-iron columns from the hotel were used for the pavillion on one side of the park, and a lovely cast-iron fountain enhances the simple beauty of the space. Walk to the corner of Magazine and gravier. Across the street to the left at 301-07 is the:
- Old New Orleans Canal & Banking Company building.
The original building was built in 1831 by J. Reynolds and J.M. Zacharie, but by 1843 it was demolished and rebuilt by James Dakin in the style that you see here today, with a Doric-columned entrance portico (part of which is still visible), and simple window openings on the second and third floors. Both the original Quincy granite and the entrance portico used in the first structure were re-used for this one. Turn right at this corner, walk one block, then make another right turn on Tchoupitoulas Street. Walk another two-and-a-half blocks to Lafayette, turn left and cross the street. To your left, occupying a small area of the block behind a high-rise, is the plaza known as the:
 Piazza Italia. The postmodern/classically-designed plaza was hailed as the most significant new piece of urban design in America when it was first opened to the public in 1979,
but was soon neglected and allowed to deteriorate over the years. Designed by architect Charles W. Moore as a tribute to the city's Italian-American community, the Roman ruin-like design features fountains, columns, and other classical architectural elements. Luckily it is now being restored to its former elegance. Continue ahead to South Peters Street. On the left corner at 537 is the: American-Italian Museum, devoted exclusively to the historical contributions of Italian-Americans to the city's rich history. Occupying a former 3-story Italianate-designed brick store, the museum is an attractive addition to this recently-revived section of the CBD. Continue down Lafayette to Convention Center Boulevard. This concludes the first part of this 2-part walking tour. At this point you can either head to the left,
then right at Poydras to end up at Spanish Plaza, or you can turn right and continue the Warehouse-Arts District section of the tour. Click to go to Part 2 if you're continuing.
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