Fire destroys abandoned St. Landry Parish school, halting sale

Morrow Elementary, an abandoned school, no longer stands. A fire burned it to the ground about a month ago.

Now, debris and metal are dumped in piles, making the area look like a scrap yard. The school has been abandoned for over a decade since it closed. For some time, the St. Landry Parish School board has debated what to do with the abandoned property.

In a committee meeting last Monday, Vice President and school board member for District 5, Bianca Vedell, spoke to the board members regarding Morrow Elementary, which has sat abandoned for a little over a decade. In that meeting, there was push back about whether to sell the property after the fire; however, talks to sell the property have been the topic of several board meetings since June of this year.

Vedell continued to say in that meeting that the property would benefit the community if the district did not sell it after getting community input about a possible community center.

After the fire, St. Landry parish government has assisted with cleanup efforts and in a statement to KATC, Parish President Bellars says:

“We handled the cleanup for them. The superintendent called us the morning of the fire, and we immediately started the cleanup process. Essentially, our role has been to assist with the cleanup and help prepare the site for sale.”

Also in a statement to KATC, SLPSB Director of Operations Claudia Blanchard said:

Since the fire, the St. Landry Parish School Board stopped the plans to sell school property.

We did reach out to Fire District Seven to ask questions about how the fire started, but we have not heard back.

To listen to the committee from Monday September 23rd you can click here