Preservationist Recipient Recalls Building History
BOBBY ARDOIN
St. Landry Now.com Editor
Vanessa Harris looked back with a bit of nostalgia and historical context on Sunday as she accepted a Preservationist of The Year award during a ceremony held at the Michel Prudhomme Home in Opelousas.
Harris, who owns the Parlor On Main Street building in downtown Opelousas with husband Senic Batiste, said her father once received initial loan funding from the Fakouri family, who at that time owned the building.
“My father, Aaron Harris used the money that he received from the Fakouri’s to purchase his first 10 acres of land,” Harris said at the annual event hosted by the Preservationists of St. Landry, Inc.
Aaron Harris then expanded his land acreage to hundreds of acres and became one of the largest agricultural land owners in St. Landry, Vanessa Harris said.
During the early part of the previous century, Harris recalled how Blacks in the parish were prevented from doing business with local banks due to one of the racially restrictive social norms established at that time.
John Fakouri, a tailor who owned the building where Parlor on Main Street is now located, was open to lending money to parish Blacks, through an underground banking process that enabled persons who were otherwise shut out of the parish financial process, to acquire personal funding, Harris said.
Harris also revealed during her presentation that she and Batiste completed the extensive renovation of the Fakouri building and held their first event there in 2021.
The interest in buying the Fakouri building began in 2007, Harris said, and the pursuit for that endeavor continued for about the next 10 years.
“Senic really liked the windows and he told the people at the bank that we should make an offer. It was really just that simple,” said Harris.
The condition of the building adjacent to Bodemuller’s, Harris pointed out, was deplorable.
“It was a long restoration process that involved a lot of money and effort,” Harris added.
The downstairs of the renovated building is rented out for events, while the completely remodeled upstairs section is a private family residence that is reserved for private use, Harris noted.
Many antiques inside the building have been kept in order to maintain the character of the building, while the original brick walls have also been preserved.
The staircase that leads to the second floor has been redone and stabilized.
“We had a vision about what we wanted to do and we realized the importance of the building and we have taken great pride in restoring it. We also wanted to do our part in helping revitalize the downtown area,” Harris said.
