Families who moved heaven and earth in 1932 rally again as October deadline approaches
Three months after a packed community meeting saved St. Francis Hall from demolition, the descendant families of Sardine Point and the Cut Off community have launched an ambitious $150,000 fundraising campaign to preserve the 98-year-old building that their ancestors literally moved with “horses, logs, and cables” in 1932.
The campaign represents the latest chapter in an extraordinary preservation saga that began when federal flood control eliminated the Mississippi River community of Sardine Point, fforcing Catholic families to make an impossible choice: lose their chapel forever or risk everything to save it by moving the entire building built in 1927 to safety in 1932
From Demolition Threat to Preservation Victory
The current effort follows the dramatic June 25th community meeting at St. John the Baptist Catholic Church, where dozens of parishioners rallied to oppose a $1.35 million renovation plan that would have demolished the historic building. As WBR Independent reported, that meeting revealed deep divisions but ultimately resulted in church leadership agreeing to explore preservation alternatives.
Now, L.J. Dupuy—whose family helped orchestrate the original 1932 rescue—is leading the fundraising effort that could determine whether the building survives for another generation.
“The council meeting agreed to allow us to keep the hall, not to tear it down,” Dupuy explained in a recent interview. “The option was to move it off the present site to the adjacent site to the Bourgeois property.”
October Deadline Creates Urgency
Church leadership has given the descendant families until October to demonstrate sufficient community support through pledges. The goal ranges from a realistic $150,000 to an aspirational $240,000, depending on the scope of renovation work required.
“My estimate on the renovation is $112,000, with an upper figure of $150,000,” Dupuy said. “But they want me to do a pledge drive and hit the $240,000 pledges.”
If the families cannot meet their fundraising targets, the building will be donated to the West Baton Rouge Museum, which has agreed to accept it for approximately $35,000 in transportation costs—a backup plan that would at least ensure the building’s survival.
Building Remains Structurally Sound
Despite nearly a century of service, the cypress structure shows remarkable preservation. “You can see there’s nothing wrong with this building,” Dupuy noted during a recent tour of the hall.
The main structural issue involves floor support where a spliced sill without proper pier support has caused some settling over the decades. “The only problem we had was the floor where they got a sill under there that was spliced with no pier in it,” he explained. “Over the years, since 1932, the other pillars sunk.”
Most renovation work involves cosmetic improvements rather than major structural repairs—cleaning and painting walls, removing dropped ceilings to restore original architecture, replacing asbestos materials, and either refinishing existing floors or using them as subflooring.
Targeting Three Generations of Sardine Point and Cut Off Families
The fundraising strategy follows the same community networks that built the original chapel in 1888 and saved it in 1932. As your previous coverage documented, many Sardine Point families relocated to “the Cut Off” area after the 1932 federal displacement, maintaining their community connections until the late 1980s.
Organizers are targeting approximately 160 second-generation families and roughly 344 third-generation descendants from both the original Sardine Point settlement and the Cut Off community where many families resettled. Each family contribution of $1,500 could help reach the fundraising goal.
“We’re focusing on 160 families, the children of what started at Sardine Point when they moved out, and then going down the line to find their ancestors,” Dupuy explained.
Connecting Younger Generations to Their Heritage
One major challenge involves reaching third and fourth-generation descendants who may not know about their families’ connection to Sardine Point or understand the hall’s significance.
“The big thing is to get that third generation aware,” Dupuy said, describing conversations with descendants whose children didn’t even know about the church or their family’s role in its preservation. “He didn’t know the church was back there. They don’t know the history of it.”
Genealogist Janet Corey Broussard, who lives in Mississippi, continues helping families trace their connections to Sardine Point through her Acadian heritage research, expanding the network of potential supporters.
Deep Family Connections Span Generations
The hall’s preservation effort intertwines multiple local families whose histories stretch back to the original Sardine Point settlement. Dupuy’s own father served as an altar boy who accompanied Father Roy on monthly visits to say Mass at Sardine Point.
“My daddy used to go with Father Roy once a month to say Mass over there,” he recalled, representing the kind of personal connections that make the building irreplaceable for descendant families.
Debbie, another organizer whose great-grandfather donated the original land for the church, school, and store at Sardine Point, demonstrates how property ownership and community leadership have passed through family lines across multiple generations.
Weekend Mass Presentations Build Support
Father John has agreed to allow organizers to speak at all weekend Masses—Saturday at 4:30 PM and Sunday at 7:30 AM, 9 AM, and 11 AM. After each service, the hall will be open for congregation members to tour the building, view renovation plans, and complete pledge cards.
The presentations have already shown success, with organizers reporting “a great weekend visiting with so many people that came by to see St. Francis Hall and gave pledges and support.” The tours provide opportunities for families to see firsthand why their ancestors considered the building worth the extraordinary effort required to save it in 1932.
Vision Extends Beyond Historic Preservation
While preservation drives the campaign, organizers envision the restored building serving multiple community purposes that could generate ongoing support and revenue.
“Everything will be centered on the kids after they finish confirmation,” Dupuy explained, describing plans for Christian Youth Theater programs, community events, and activities targeting young people who might otherwise drift away from church involvement.
The building’s event hosting potential could also benefit the broader parish community. Past gatherings at the location have drawn as many as 400 people, suggesting strong community interest in programming that could help with ongoing maintenance costs.
Volunteer Services Reduce Actual Cash Needs
Just as in 1932, when the community coordinated resources to move their chapel, today’s preservation effort benefits from volunteer professional services that significantly reduce cash requirements.
“I’ve got free concrete, I’ve got free electrical services,” Dupuy noted. “A lot of folks who were successful that have ancestors from Sardine Point are basically doing the whole building.”
One local contractor has committed to performing the renovation work at no charge, which should help ensure the project stays within budget once architectural drawings are completed and the work goes through proper bidding procedures.
Rebuilding the Historical Steeple
Renovation plans include reconstructing the original steeple that was lost during one of the building’s relocations. “This had a steeple on it, and I don’t know what happened to it, whether it fell off when they were moving it or whether they took it off and it never got back,” Dupuy said.
The new steeple will be historically accurate and proportional to the building’s architecture, constructed on a separate foundation near the front entrance as a memorial to the original design that once marked the Sardine Point landscape.
Continuing the 1932 Legacy
The current preservation campaign directly continues the precedent established when Sardine Point families refused to let federal displacement eliminate their sacred space. As WBR Independent documented, those families understood that “heritage preservation isn’t just about buildings, it’s about maintaining connections across generations.”
The families who rescued St. Francis Chapel in 1932 with horses, logs, and cables demonstrated that community heritage is worth extraordinary effort to preserve. Today’s campaign asks the same fundamental question: What is irreplaceable sacred space worth to families who understand their connection to the past?
Modern Challenges, Historical Determination
While today’s families face institutional decisions rather than federal displacement, the principle remains identical: some things are too important to lose, and family determination can overcome seemingly impossible obstacles.
The success of the June 25th community meeting—where preservation advocates successfully challenged demolition plans—shows that the same spirit that moved heaven and earth in 1932 continues to motivate descendant families today.
How the Community Can Support the Campaign
Families and community members can support the preservation effort by:
- Attending weekend Mass presentations for tours and pledge opportunities
- Making online pledges using the campaign’s QR code system
- Joining the “Sardine Point / Cut Off Ancestors and Friends” Facebook group at facebook.com/groups/1970554347093038 to connect with other descendant families and stay updated on the campaign
- Contacting L.J. Dupuy directly for pledge information and volunteer opportunities
- Researching family genealogies to identify Sardine Point connections
- Spreading awareness about the campaign throughout West Baton Rouge Parish
- Making financial pledges scaled to family financial capacity
Online Pledge System Available
The campaign has established a digital pledge system allowing supporters to contribute remotely at stfrancispledge.netlify.app/pledge. Community members like Billy Hebert, who couldn’t attend weekend tours, have already submitted pledges online, demonstrating the accessibility of the fundraising effort beyond just Sunday Mass presentations.
To use the QR code: Simply scan with your phone camera, fill out the pledge card, and click submit only once (it takes a few seconds to load). You’ll receive a thank-you acknowledgment when the submission goes through.
Bobby Williamson’s Living Legacy
Bobby Williamson, possibly the last person born at Sardine Point in February 1932, represents the final living link to the community that required such extraordinary preservation efforts. Whether the building that connects to his birthplace survives for future generations depends on the same family determination that moved heaven and earth nearly 100 years ago..
The October Decision Point
With just weeks remaining before the October deadline, organizers remain optimistic about reaching their fundraising goals. The combination of volunteer services, established family networks, and strong community support for historic preservation suggests St. Francis Hall may indeed continue its remarkable journey.
“We feel confident we can reach those figures,” Dupuy said. “It’s just a matter of getting the message out.”
The campaign represents more than fundraising—it’s a test of whether the values that motivated the 1932 rescue effort continue to resonate with descendant families. Those ancestors understood they were preserving more than architecture; they were maintaining the possibility for future generations to connect with their heritage through sacred space.
Preserving More Than a Building
For the families leading this preservation effort, St. Francis Hall represents the tangible connection to a lost world that federal flood control eliminated. The building survived because families in 1932 understood that some losses are acceptable, but others require whatever sacrifice is necessary to prevent.
The West Baton Rouge Museum’s upcoming 2026 exhibit on Sardine Point’s African American origins will help tell the complete story of the community that once shared the Mississippi River peninsula. Whether that exhibit will include the preserved St. Francis Hall—the last physical remnant of the shared homeland—depends on whether today’s descendants can summon the same extraordinary commitment their ancestors demonstrated in 1932.
The Stakes Remain the Same
As October approaches, the question facing Sardine Point and Cut Off descendants mirrors the choice their ancestors confronted twice—in 1929 and 1932: accept the loss of irreplaceable heritage, or do whatever it takes to preserve sacred space for future generations.
The families who moved heaven and earth twice in three years provided both the precedent and the inspiration. Whether their descendants will follow that example now depends on the same community determination that has preserved St. Francis Hall for nearly a century since federal policy tried to eliminate it forever.
Previous Coverage in WBR Independent’s St. Francis Hall Series:
- Part 1: The Battle for Brusly’s Last Memory – Historic St. Francis Hall faces demolition as families race to save 159-year Louisiana heritage
- Part 2: The Lost Community of Sardine Point – How 159 years of Louisiana history disappeared beneath federal flood control
- Part 3: Moving Heaven and Earth – The 1932 rescue that saved St. Francis Chapel and set the precedent for today’s preservation battle
- Part 4: Parishioners Rally to Save Historic St. Francis Hall – Community meeting draws passionate debate over renovation plans
For information about supporting the St. Francis Hall preservation campaign, contact L.J. Dupuy through local Catholic parish networks or attend weekend Mass presentations through October.
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