Removing a Confederate monument from the Courthouse square is going to be difficult, expensive and perhaps a legal issue, St. Landry Parish council members were told on Wednesday night.
Opelousas attorney Tommy DeJean, who represented the local Sons of Confederate Veterans camp during a Public Works Committee meeting, said his research from the official minutes of parish government meeting, shows Courthouse property where the monument has been placed, was donated by Police Jury members in 1910 to the Sons of Confederate Veterans.
“The minutes of that meeting recorded in the Clarion newspaper, which was then the official journal for the Police Jury, shows that there was a donation of Courthouse property by the Police Jury for the monument. Before a hunk of money is spent trying to move that monument, I think we should find out who owns the property on that corner (of the Courthouse),” DeJean said.
Council attorney Garrett Duplechain said he has been unable to find any legal transaction either in parish conveyance or assessor records that shows the Sons of Confederate Veterans own any portion of Courthouse property.
Duplechain noted that his research has been exhaustive. “I have no other places to look,” Duplechain added.
DeJean said, any legal issues regarding the property where the monument is placed might eventually become a matter for the courts to decide.
Cost Estimate For Removal
Removing the monument and preserving the numerous pieces of the structure will probably be a costly venture, DeJean noted.
DeJean said he has not yet received an estimate from experts who have examined the monument architecture. However, DeJean said Caddo Parish government spent about $700,000 to relocate a similar monument.
The Council passed separate resolutions last year that donated ownership of the monument back to the SCV chapter and required the organization to pay for the removal costs.
DeJean said that he has already spent about $2,000 of his own money to pay experts for their advice on how to remove the monument without damaging it and transporting it to Camp Moore in Tangipahoa Parish.
Where The Council Stands
Members of the committee voted to have the monument removal matter referred for more discussion at Council meeting later this month. Committee member Nancy Carriere, who placed the monument issue on the Wednesday night agenda, complained that it has taken too long for the SCV to begin the removal process.
Mildred Thierry, also a committee member, questioned what responsibility does the Council have in the removal process.
Parish president Jessie Bellard told the committee that he is not going to destroy the monument in order to move it. It’s also obvious, Bellard said, that the parish does not have the money to move the monument elsewhere unless the Council decides to change one of the resolutions that were previously passed. Bellard said the SCV has been working on a strategy that allows the monument to be removed without damage.
“We are in a Catch 22 with this right now and it all falls on me,” Bellard added.
Bellard said that he is in favor of obtaining what he said are clear answers for the number of problems surrounding the monument.
“I want to get something in writing about who owns (the monument) and what can be done with it,” Bellard said.
