[StBernard] Islenos museum in St. Bernard Parish coming down today

[Westley Annis]

Islenos museum in St. Bernard Parish coming down today
by The Times-Picayune 
Friday March 14, 2008, 10:52 AM
Crews are demolishing the Islenos Museum in St. Bernard Parish today. The
museum was crushed by a huge tree that toppled during Hurricane Katrina.

The museum, a 19th Century cottage located in St. Bernard Village, was also
flooded during the hurricane. Parish historian Bill Hyland said the fallen
tree exposed widescale termite damage dating back several decades.

"We're all very sorry to see the place go,'' Hyland said this morning,
during a break in the demolition. "But it's really been a public hazard, a
safety hazard. For that reason we're delighted it's going. We're moving
ahead.''

The museum is owned by St. Bernard Parish and run by the Los Islenos
Cultural and Heritage Society. The museum pays homage to the Islenos, some
of St. Bernard's earliest residents who came to the parish from the Canary
Islands off west Africa in the late 1700s.

The parish plans to build a replica of the cottage on the site, which
includes several other buildings that were not destroyed by the hurricane.

St. Bernard Parish Councilman Fred Everhardt Jr., who runs a trucking
company, is donating his time and his father's construction equipment to
demolish the structure today.