DANIEL TYLER GOODEN / L’Observateur / July 8, 2000

GRAMERCY – The last few weeks tall weeds and grass seemed to be the only sign of growth on the new St. James Parish Welcome Center. Funding for theproject had run dry, and the parish crews were busy on other projects. Butinside the Design Woodwork workshop Jud and Pam Reynaud have been busy working toward completing the exterior of the high french creole home. Thisweek the construction site was busy again, with shutters and doors being attached to the building. And save for the porch steps and railing, theexterior is finally finished.

Often at the St. James Parish Council meeting, councilmen have beenforwarding questions from their constituents of when the house is going to be finished and what the hold up is. Money would be the answer to most thosequestions. The original project was budgeted for a simple refurbishing of thehouse to serve as the welcome center, said Jody Chenier, director of operations. When work on the home begun the age of the building wasdiscovered, and though it would cost more to restore it historically, the parish decided to rebuild it as a true representation of what St. James hadto offer.

Reynaud was brought onto the project, and under his direction he and the parish work crews began the task of peeling back 165 years of decay and deterioration. “It’s going slower than we thought,” said Dale Hymel Jr., parishpresident, due to the expense of rebuilding the home historically. But it’sexpected to be finished by the first of 2001, he added.

The work crews were taken off the project and the parish paid as much as it could to keep the project running. Now, due to a $20,000 grant by theLouisiana Department of Natural Resources, the welcome center will soon be back on track. Though Design Woodwork is only contracted to do the exteriorof the building, Hymel stated that they will continue to use them for the interior restoration.

“Jud’s really an expert in this kind of work. The building really looks good, alot better than we could have done,” said Chenier.

The Reynauds hope to see the project on through to the end. “We want acompleted creole building,” said Reynaud. He and his wife have been collectingdifferent artifacts of joint work, fasteners, building materials and other examples of old style construction and design. Saving them from getting lostin the shuffle, Reynaud plans to present the old memorabilia when the house is finished and the pieces can be displayed.

So the question is, with money in the past being short, how much is it going to cost to finish. The answer is so far unknown. Without fully knowing whatthe uses of the interior rooms, it’s difficult to estimate a figure. However,the parish understands the importance of preserving the history of St.

James through this project. The welcome center will be the first thing thattourists and businesses will see when they enter the parish.

“It’s important to first see the history” St. James has to offer, saidChenier. They are putting a historical building back to work. They could haveduplicated the building, but then it could be accepted for the national historical site registry.

“You can’t set a price on history. They are saving this part of St. James forfuture generations,” said Reynaud.

Sitting on the corner of Louisiana Highways 642 and 61, the welcome center will serve to show what the parish has to offer. More importantly therestored creole home will give visitors and locals a chance to look back in time to see what St. James was. With the parishes continued dedication tothe restoration of it’s history, the welcome center will also serve as a first step to what the parish can again be.

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