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Work underway to restore Abbeville’s Magdalen Square

Posted at 6:20 PM, Sep 05, 2018
and last updated 2018-09-05 22:38:57-04

Work is underway to help restore Abbeville’s Magdalen Square.

It’s a part of a large beautification project being undertaken by the city.

“We’re replacing broken bricks and broken mortar making it a safer surface, making the square more beautiful with more beautiful brick,” said Councilmen Brady Broussard.

Every year Magdalen Square plays host to hundreds of events that include anything from weddings to concerts to farmers markets.

That’s why the city has hired a contractor to do some restoration work in the heavily trafficked square.

”Handicap accessibility is going to go all over the downtown area. Even in this square increased handicap accessibility. Landscaping, pavers, beautification,” said Broussard.

Councilman Brady Broussard is spearheading the downtown beautification initiative. He’s carrying on the legacy of his father, former Abbeville Mayor Brady Broussard Senior, who was instrumental in getting downtown Abbeville on the National Register of Historic Places.

“The historical district was created under his administration. The gazebo was built.(by Mayor Broussard’s Administration) He believed in the value of historic. And, he believed in historic preservation,” said Broussard.

The city is using a $450,000 dollar cityscape grant to pay for the renovations.

On top of that, they’re tapping into a $250,000 dollar account they’ve been building for fifteen years.

All of the funding is going into restoring and beautifying Abbeville’s unique and remarkable downtown historic district.

“You’d have to go pretty far to find a European downtown square, and that was the intent here. You see another square where the courthouse is. That’s our two downtown squares. Our founder, (Père Antoine Desiré Megrét) that’s where he founded the city by finding the site of that church. That church was founded in 1907, completed in 1911. Gorgeous, historic. That’s the jewel of Lafayette Diocese. It was something that he laid it out just like his homeland in France. We recognize that we want to improve upon that, we want to maintain that,” explained Broussard.