Hurricanes Laura and Delta caused immense damage to buildings across southwest Louisiana in 2020, including many of the region’s cultural institutions. Now, many of them have found a new home inside a historic school building in downtown Lake Charles, which finally reopened Monday after years of repairs following the storms.
“Central School was a thriving hub for arts and cultural activities, an incubator for aspiring artists, musicians and performing artists,” Lake Charles Mayor Nic Hunter said at a ribbon cutting for the historic schoolhouse turned cultural center. With tenants moving back in, it is taking that role again, providing a space for artists, nonprofits and cultural organizations to work and mingle.
“It’s really exciting to all be in one space and bounce ideas off of each other,” said Kari Casey, director of outreach and programming for the Children’s Museum of Southwest Louisiana. The museum saw its space in downtown Lake Charles destroyed by Laura and is currently waiting for its new building to be constructed.
“Everybody is doing the best we can to bring Lake Charles back, especially when it comes to the arts and humanities,” Casey said. The reopening of Central School, which has long served as a cultural hub for the city, is one step in that direction.
“These walls are filled with arts and culture,” Casey said. “You come and you’re inspired to carry on the tradition.”
Kari Casey, director of outreach and programming, in the temporary office of the Children’s Museum of Southwest Louisiana at Central School in Lake Charles.
Another organization with a long history in the city has also found its temporary home at Central School. The Lake Charles Little Theater, founded in 1926, had been bouncing around town for nearly three years after losing its home, located only a few blocks away, to Laura.
“We’ve done shows all across town in all kinds of different sized venues,” said Brett Downer, director of the theater’s board. “We’ve been in borrowed spaces, temporary spaces. That’s the beauty of Central School. Now that it’s back, we have a permanent home.”
Eventually, he said, the theater is planning to have its own building once again, but with its old location a complete loss, rebuilding will take years. Until then, the theater will be utilizing its space in the historic school building for rehearsals, auditions, office space and, once it’s repaired, shows in the schoolhouse’s auditorium.
Newer organizations, too, have found their place in the bright and airy 1912 building.
Saige Mestayer, marketing and campaign director for Smoke & Barrel, a nonprofit that puts on its namesake whiskey and barbecue festival every winter, along with a growing number of other events, said that having an office to work out of has been game changing.
“I love this, having a space and being able to connect with so many people,” Mestayer said. The “vintage feel” of the building adds to the charm, she pointed out. Mestayer joined the nonprofit in April and said that, since moving into the space after roughly two months of working from home, “the productivity is through the roof.”
Saige Mestayer, marketing and campaign director for Smoke & Barrel, in her new office at Central School in Lake Charles.
Currently, she’s planning a new early childhood education program the nonprofit is hoping to create under the umbrella of the United Way of Southwest Louisiana.
Restoring the historic building was no easy task, Hunter pointed out. “Repairing any structure post-disaster is not easy, but repairing a historic structure, like Central School, requires extra care,” the mayor said. All in all, the restoration cost the city $4.8 million, a cost the city is hoping to be reimbursed for by FEMA, and took nearly three years to complete.
But, Hunter noted, the restoration of historic buildings like Central School and the nearby historic city hall — now used primarily for art exhibits and events — is worth it.
“These were buildings with significant historic value,” Hunter said. The Community Foundation of Southwest Louisiana has created a special fund dedicated to the preservation of both buildings, Hunter announced at Monday’s ribbon cutting.
Signs listing tenant of Central School in Lake Charles before Hurricane Laura.
Historic preservation has, at times, taken a backseat to economic redevelopment in Lake Charles, said historian Adley Cormier, with many historic buildings only visible in historic photographs today. The Majestic Hotel, which hosted U.S. presidents during their visits to Lake Charles, and the Arcade Theater, where Houdini performed in his day, are just two prominent structures that were lost nearby and are still missed by residents today.
And while repeated hurricanes have not made the task of preservation any easier, Hunter pointed out that the repairing of Central School marked a success.
“It’s just a wonderful thing that we have a community and a city that has embraced these historic structures and that we don’t repeat some of the mistakes of the past,” Hunter said.
