Abandoned St. Landry school likely unsafe, difficult to sell, expensive to demolish

The excess weeds and expansive foliage abutt the crumbling remnants of a former St. Landry Parish elementary school. The building is now stripped of any remaining valued contents and has been awaiting removal or attention for at least a decade.

Although the demolition process for what was once Morrow Elementary School on La. 71 might seem a simple process, school officials now say it could cost an estimated $550,000 to level the classroom building and a gymnasium where Class B high school basketball was once played.

What to do about what is left of Morrow Elementary is a topic discussed several times over the last five years by school officials, but nothing was ever decided about what should be done with the property or building.

The school district, in past action taken by board members, has solicited for appraisals and advertisements have been posted.

Board members once voted to have the building, now considered beyond repair, placed on the real estate market, but the condition of the school last used around 2010, made it less attractive for any buyers.

Making any purchase proposals more difficult is a portion of the Morrow Elementary property was once donated, making a title transition and potential sale more complicated.

Residents Say Property Is Hazardous

School Board members Bianca Vedell and Milton Ambres, who once coached basketball and served as a school administrator at Morrow, say people who live in the area are requesting that the school building be demolished.

“There are safety concerns. The property is now abandoned and you don’t want to leave it in the condition that it is in,” Vedell, who represents District 5 in the Palmetto, Melville and Morrow, told a Building, Lands and Sites Committee on Monday night.

Operations Director Claudia Blanchard, said what remains of the school includes 15 classrooms, a cafeteria, office space and the gym.

Blanchard said about four and a half acres were apparently donated by families who wanted to see a school built in the Morrow area.

“That (donated) property belongs to the people who gave it for the school. Another 12 acres are what belongs to the school board,” Ambres pointed out.

Ambres said the school cannot be renovated, probably requires asbestos abatement and the skeletal remains of the classroom buildings are no longer of any value.

“The property has gotten to be an eyesore. You have drug dealers going behind the school and doing their thing. All the copper has been removed. Sometimes the homeless sleep there.

"The school is gutted. Everything worth selling has been taken,” said Ambres who added a new school cafeteria was built before students who once attended classes there were sent to other campuses.

Debating The Process

On Monday night the Committee discussed the matter without taking any action.

“The people (in the Morrow area) are saying the property is a safety hazard. At the least they are asking that things around there be cleaned up,” Vedell said.

Ambres said any action needed to determine that needs to be done at Morrow is overdue.

“The responsibility for this now lies with the School Board. We need to start cleaning it up, doing something. If we don’t tear it down, we should at least go in and clean the building,” Ambres added.

Superintendent Patrick Jenkins told the Committee that if the Board decides to sell the property, then there will be an abatement process attached for either the District or any potential buyer.

Lyn Kenley, who represents Volkert, Inc. a construction management company employed by the District, said whichever decision the Board makes in disposing of the building and property is likely to be expensive.

This article originally appeared on Opelousas Daily World: What's next for abandoned Morrow Elementary? School board at a loss