Welcome Center pays off 2 building liens

Honey Badger’s dismissal marks a sad day for LSU loyalists
August 23, 2012
Congressional races top list to watch
August 23, 2012
Honey Badger’s dismissal marks a sad day for LSU loyalists
August 23, 2012
Congressional races top list to watch
August 23, 2012

The Cajun Coast Tourist Commission has made good on two liens – totaling $114,000 – filed against its sunken St. Mary Parish Welcome Center.

Meanwhile, the lead attorney for the parish’s Visitors and Convention Bureau says he is making progress with the design team, architect, soil engineer, structural engineer and the contractor in deciding how the $3.8 million tourist attraction can be salvaged. Just weeks from completion, the facility mysteriously fell on June 14, coming to a rest just over five feet below, resting in the swamp.


The center, located at the foot of an onramp to the E.J. Lionel Grizzaffi Bridge, has remained closed since.


Despite the latest payout, St. Mary’s tourism director Carrie Stansbury is optimistic, vowing the facility will be operational by winter 2013.

The parish has a $3.7 million insurance policy on the building, “so most of the costs we have to pay will be reimbursed,” Stansbury said. “We are hoping to have a presentation on a solution by mid-September.


“While we want the building fixed yesterday, our attorney informs us that the team is making great strides on [salvaging and repairing the building],” she said.


Attorney Gary McGoffin, of Lafayette-based Durio, McGoffin, Stag and Ackermann, said officials are confident the 16,000-square-foot structure can be raised to its original position. While talks are ongoing, plans to sue the builders are on hold.

“You cannot litigate and negotiate at the same time,” he said. “We have to figure out how to cure the building first before we can begin to look at the causes.”


Meanwhile, McGoffin is urging Cajun Coast to take steps to preserve the building “because all indications are the facility continues to be under stress due to the unequal elevations resulting from the foundation settlement,” he said.


McGoffin suggested in July the building be wrapped in visqueen; however, the site has been left unattended, for the most part, since the day it fell from its pilings.

The attorney also recommended taping windows and testing the building’s HVAC equipment.

McGoffin said Crawford Electric and Acoustic Specialties filed liens against the building. Crawford Electric was paid $100,519 and Acoustic Specialties was paid $13,100.

Despite recent harsh remarks posted on St. Mary’s tourism Facebook site, Stansbury said the decision to build the facility in its present site is a sound one.

Surveys indicate approximately 20,000 cars cross the Grizzaffi Bridge daily. “That’s approximately seven million people yearly,” the tourism director said.

“Eight million people a year visit New Orleans, and there are a good percentage of those folks who travel to Lafayette,” Stansbury said. “We needed something spectacular to pull those people off the bridge and keep them here.”

According to Stansbury, visitors to Morgan City spend approximately $150 daily. Overnight travelers spend $350 to $500 in the area, she said.

“The Grizzaffi Bridge and Morgan City, it’s all built in the swamp. For that matter, so is the White House,” Stansbury said. “Once this building is open, folks will be amazed and very proud.

“Our plans are still as valid today as what they were seven years ago. We’re just taking our lessons and moving on.”

Liens totaling $114,000 were paid to two contractors for work performed on the St. Mary Parish Welcome Center. Talks between the parish’s tourism attorneys and the contractors are ongoing. Plans to raise and repair the structure are still ongoing.

FILE PHOTO