Palace Owner Needs A Water Meter

 Palace Owner Needs A Water Meter

BOBBY ARDOIN

St. Landry Now.com Editor

The inability of the city to locate an operating water meter has delayed contractors’ attempts to renovate and sell the Palace Cafe, according to Clerk of Court Charles Jagneaux, who owns the historic restaurant in downtown Opelousas.

Jagneaux said he has listed the 70-year-old landmark for sale, but work on the inside of the restaurant has been unable to begin for the last three weeks.

The problem, Jagneaux said, is no water has been available at the building, due to the absence of a meter.

“I put down a deposit for water three weeks ago and since then the city has not been able to get a meter in. If we have no water, we can’t clean up and make the repairs that are needed in order to sell the property and open it up again for business,” Jagneaux said.

Jagneaux said city workers thought they had a suitable meter to provide water hookup available in Lafayette, but as of Friday afternoon, there was no word from either the water department or the administration whether one had been found,” said Jagneaux.

There have been attempts to contact Opelousas Mayor Julius Alsandor about the absence of a meter, but Jagneaux said that he has not received a response from the administration.

The lack of a prompt response from the city to attend to the meter issue, Jagneaux said, sends a negative signal about its effort to support economic rehabilitation for the downtown area that is trying to attract new businesses.

“You would think that when there is a business that is trying to open in a downtown area which needs an economic boost, that the city would act more quickly to supply a basic need like water,” Jagneaux added.

Located at 135 West Landry Street, the 3,000-foot Palace Cafe is listed for sale at $209,000.

Jagneaux, who acquired ownership of the Palace in September, said a cooler unit needs to be replaced in addition to other repairs to the kitchen area.

There is also a need to refurbish the entire inside of the building in addition to start an overall cleanup, said Jagneaux.