Church’s fate awaits decision

• By KORAN ADDO
• Advocate Westside bureau
• Published: Nov 6, 2009 - Page: 1B

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BAYOU GOULA — The fate of historic St. Paul Catholic Church remained uncertain as church leaders faced a decision today on whether to have the 138-year-old church damaged by Hurricane Gustav demolished or turned over to a preservationist group.

No priest has celebrated Mass at the church in 10 years. Boards and timber from the wrecked steeple litter the ground in front of the church, a landmark in the small Iberville Parish settlement of Bayou Goula on the fringes of the Atchafalaya Basin.

The debris thrown about and structural damage to the church caused by Gustav’s high winds in 2008 have become an insurance liability for the Our Lady of Prompt Succor Parish Council, which oversees St. Paul Catholic Church.

Jim Jumonville, a member of the church parish’s finance committee, said there are a number of options for the council to consider in deliberating the future of the building.

Six of those options are offers submitted by various groups interested in tearing down the building. Two of those groups want to pull down the church and sell off the leftover lumber. Another option calls for moving the building to Amite for reassembly there.

But one group, Friends of St. Paul Church, wants to save the “noble old church” and eventually restore it, Jumonville said.

Jumonville said when he presents the options to the church council, he hopes the Friends’ offer prevails. He added that he also hopes members of the Friends would follow through with their proposal.

One of the Friends, Michelle Koch Noel, attended services at St. Paul for years. She and several of her sisters were married there. She is one of 11 Friends members hoping the council will reject plans to demolish the building and accept their offer to refurbish it.

Noel said Friends of St. Paul Church is prepared to install a tarp over a damaged portion of the roof of the otherwise structurally sound building.

The group also would remove fallen hurricane debris from the church grounds and clean up the property.

If the Friends organization can raise enough money, it hopes to establish a nonprofit entity to oversee the old church building, install a new roof, make it watertight and eventually hold church functions in the building again.

As a result of its preservation efforts so far, Friends gained an assist from the Foundation for Historical Louisiana.

Erin Michelle Brush, a field representative for the foundation, said it would be a shame to tear down a church of such historical significance.