Opelousas, LA: While traveling down the intersection of Main Street and Grolee Street, you stumble across a historic building wrapped in centuries of history. Built by the Sandoz family hundreds of years ago, it once stood as a grocery and mercantile store, but it played a significant role in the early 1900s.
"It became a hospital for many years, and it was the first hospital here in Opelousas. It went through the 1900s and helped people who had the Spanish Flu," said Robbie Sebastien, a board member with the Opelousas Main Street program.
Now, centuries later, the history behind the building could soon be erased. The City of Opelousas Code Enforcement is on the verge of demolishing the 100-plus-year-old structure due to the roof collapsing, but Sebastien says it is not the best ideas.
"If it's torn down, then you are left with a corner piece of concrete property, which is not going to look attractive at all," said Sebastien.
With the Opelousas Main Street program, Sebastien is working to find investors who can revitalize the property.
"This would do well as an apartment complex or shopping center to bring in more traffic to the city," said Sebastien.
Lance Ned, the city's Chief code enforcement officer, agrees with Sebastien but says it all comes down to safety protocols and doing away with a growing problem which is blight.
"Historical value does not usurp public safety and wellness, and if this building is deemed a safety and wellness issue, we have to proceed accordingly with demolition, or if someone can come in with a comprehensive plan to show that they can safeguard the building but until that is done this building needs to go down," said Ned.
The Opelousas City Council gave the Opelousas Main Street program and other investors 90 days to devise a hard plan for revitalizing the building, but after our story aired, Ned notified KATC that they might have a potential buyer. The city is considering a price to see if the potential buyer will accept the offer.
We will keep you updated as more information becomes available.
