NEWS RELEASE

Contact: David West (west@alpha.nsula.edu )
News Bureau
Northwestern State University
Natchitoches, LA 71497
(318) 357-6466

8/24/2001

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

NATCHITOCHES -After a hectic three months, a five-person Historic American Buildings Survey (HABS) Team has completed its work in the Natchitoches area.

The team, Edward Pillsbury of Morristown, N.J., Jon Wilson of Oxford, Miss., Maciej Gruszecki of Lodz, Poland, Katalin Maksay of Cluj, Romania and Caroline Wright of Briggs, Texas, concluded a 12-week architectural documentation project.

Over the last three months, the group documented several structures in the Cane River National Heritage Area including the Texas and Pacific Railway Depot, the Roubieu-Jones House, the Coin Coin-Prudhomme, the Piece-Sur Building at Ducorneau Plantation and outbuildings at Oakland Plantation, a unit of the Cane River Creole National Historical Park. The HABS team was headquartered at Lee H. Nelson Hall, the home of the National Center for Preservation Technology and Training. The program was funded by the Cane River National Heritage Area Commission.

The project was considered a major success by team members and officials from the National Park Service.

"I have never seen such support (for a HABS team)," said Paul Dolinsky, chief of HABS with the National Park Service. "Thanks to the landowners who beared with us beautifully. We have produced some beautiful stories."

While in Natchitoches, the team completed measured drawings and short historical reports on architectural and cultural traditions. The measured drawings are architectural blueprints. The original drawings will be given to the Library of Congress and a copy of the drawing will be available locally

"This has been a very fulfilling experience for me," said Wright, who will remain in Natchitoches to work for the Cane River Creole National Historical Park. "I have been able to use the knowledge I have and learned a great deal. A lot of the buildings we worked on were very unusual. The buildings may not have seemed important at first to some of the team but they found that they had something interesting about them."

Gruszecki and Maksay found their first trip to the United States yielded a great deal outside of the professional experience they obtained.

"The main thing for me was to see America. All I knew before was what I had seen in movies," said Gruszecki. "This country doesn't match the stereotypes. That is what you learn from travelling to foreign countries."

Maksay said the opportunity to work at NCPTT and be around other professionals has helped her greatly.

"It has been a great experience for me. I have learned a lot of new things and have the chance to discuss work with others and see how they are doing things," said Maksay. "It has also been interesting to see how towns and cities were designed and have developed. Cities in Europe developed much differently."

One thing that Gruszecki and Maksay took with them was a favorable impression of the people of Natchitoches and north Louisiana.

"People here are so friendly. It is amazing how open they are," said Gruszecki.

"Everyone is so friendly. But because it was summer, I couldn't meet as many people as I would have liked to," said Maksay. "Everyone goes from their building to their car. I have not gotten used to the heat. I have never experienced heat like this."

Officials are hopeful that other HABS teams can be assigned to the Natchitoches area in the future. The Historic American Building Survey is the oldest federal preservation program. HABS was founded in 1933 as a make-work program for architects, draftsmen and photographers put out of work during the Great Depression.

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