St. Mary Parish Lousiana Built $3 Million Convention And Visitors Bureau On A Swamp – Knew It Was On A Swamp – And It Sunk

MORGAN CITY, LOUISIANA – St. Mary Parish put up more than $3 million for a Convention and Visitor’s bureau. It went up with high hopes, but what happened Thursday, sank those very hopes.

“We had a catastrophic failure,” said Carrie Stansbury, executive director of Cajun Coast Visitor’s & Convention Bureau.

It’s what St. Mary parish officials had been wanting even before Katrina in 2005. Stansbury said they decided on the building to help boost the economy in Morgan City in hopes of keeping visitors in town.

“By slowing them down, we could get them to get another tank of gas. We can get them to stay overnight. We can get them to eat in our restaurants, and get them to create economic development in our community,” said Stansbury.

It was less than six weeks from completion when suddenly, “A painter was in there today (Thursday), and he noticed a crack…