Abbeville council unanimously authorizes negotiations to preserve cultural center while exploring Hibernia building option

The Abbeville City Council on March 3 authorized the mayor and city attorney to negotiate with the Vermilion Parish Police Jury over the future of two downtown properties: the Cultural & Historical Alliance center (housed in the former Vermilion Parish Library) and the Hibernia bank building. The council also approved commissioning additional architectural and structural evaluations of the Hibernia building before making a final decision.

The move followed a lengthy public discussion and presentations from local stakeholders. Lloyd Duray, president of the Cultural & Historical Alliance, detailed the alliance's decades of activity in the library building and said the group and the city together have invested hundreds of thousands of dollars in renovations. "Considering the efforts, renovations, and improvements to this facility, it would appear unwise for all of this to be abandoned," Duray said.

Resident Meg Abear told the council the cultural center is integral to downtown tourism and the Giant Omelette Festival, noting exhibits, rotating arts displays and stored festival supplies that would be difficult to relocate. "It would be devastating to the Giant Omelette celebration to have to relocate our permanent exhibits," Abear said.

Council members and staff recounted a complex history of leases and appraisals. City staff reported the cultural center appraised in November 2025 at about $544,000 and said the Hibernia building had an appraisal near $500,000. Engineering staff summarized prior condition assessments and a 2015 exterior-repair estimate of roughly $102,000; more recent exterior-envelope and structural comments put immediate mitigation costs in the low hundreds of thousands of dollars and a full high-end renovation at several million dollars, depending on the scope.

Council members said the city has paid annual rent to the police jury for decades and noted roughly $336,000 in city-held renovation funds for the cultural center. The council discussed a proposal that could let the sheriff temporarily remain in the Hibernia building while the city renovates or consolidates departments; the sheriff reportedly committed to occupy Hibernia for up to five years while building a permanent facility.

Councilmember Brady Brous Jr. moved to authorize the mayor and city attorney to meet with police jury leadership and the jury's attorney to negotiate terms and to obtain independent architectural and structural evaluations of the Hibernia building, and to seek concessions reflecting the city and partner organizations' prior investments in the cultural center. The motion was amended to explicitly include obtaining the evaluations before a final acquisition vote. The council voted by roll call, and the motion carried unanimously, 5-0.

The motion does not obligate the city to purchase either property; it authorizes negotiations and due diligence, with any final deal to return to council for approval. Council members said they wanted to protect the cultural center's tenant organizations while assessing the long-term cost and liability of adding the Hibernia building to city ownership.

Next steps include negotiated discussions with Police Jury President Chad Volo and the jury attorney, plus third-party architecture/engineering inspections and updated cost estimates. The council asked staff to report back with findings before any binding city commitment.