Demolition Company Owner Peter A. Ricca Dies At 71 Times Picayune 03-13-1996 ************************************************* Copyright. All rights reserved. http://www.usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm http://www.usgwarchives.net/la/lafiles.htm ************************************************ Peter Angelo Ricca, owner of Ricca's Demolishing Corp. and other companies, died Monday of undetermined causes at his home. He was 71. A lifelong resident of New Orleans, Mr. Ricca spent more than 40 years in the demolition business. He also was the owner of Ricca's Architectural Sales, Ricca & Puderer Demolishing & Building Materials Inc., White Pillars Emporium, Ricca's Fan Co., Ricca's Trash Containers and Ricca's Landfill. Mr. Ricca's company demolished more than 14 blocks of commercial buildings to make way for the widening of Poydras Street in the 1960s. He also demolished the former public library at Lee Circle, St. Charles Avenue mansions, the Holy Family Convent on Orleans Street, the old Mercy Hospital- Soniat Memorial on Annunciation Street, the Higgins Industries Inc. manufacturing plant on City Park Avenue where PT boats were built during World War II, the New Orleans Home for Incurables on Henry Clay Avenue, and the Balter and Vincent buildings in the area where the Pan-American Life Insurance Co. Building stands today. In the 1980s, Mr. Ricca concentrated on small commercial and residential projects, selling the contents of the demolished buildings - such as shutters, mantels and doorknobs - to the public. At the same time, he acquired properties in the French Quarter and fixed them up. He received a certificate from the Vieux Carre Commission for historical preservation work, his family said. Survivors include his wife, Althea Wolf Ricca; four sons, Angelo, Peter, Roland and Harry Ricca; four daughters, Juliann Puderer, Celeste Ricca, Mary Mackenroth and Rene Hill; a sister, Clair Ricca Adams; 15 grandchildren; 12 stepgrandchildren; and a great-grandchild. A Mass will be said Thursday at 11 a.m. at Lake Lawn Metairie Funeral Home, 5100 Pontchartrain Blvd. Visitation will be today from 6 to 11 p.m. and Thursday from 8 to 11 a.m. Burial will be in Metairie Cemetery.