By Ken Grissom

t_news@bellsouth.net

Breaux Bridge — Parc Hardy will be getting $200,000 in improvements, including a multi-purpose building with a conference room and kitchen, courtesy of the area’s legislative delegation.

The money will also be used for improvements to and around the ballpark concession stand, said Mayor Jack Dale Delhomme.

The capital outlay money, which is getting increasingly hard to get, has been in the pipeline for a while, said state Sen. Troy Hebert, D-Jeanerette.

“I’ve been criticized for it but I’m a guy who believes in going to Baton Rouge and bringing home all that what they call pork,” the former state representative said.

Hebert said he worked with Rep. Fred Mills of Breaux Bridge and with former Rep. Sydney Mae Durand of St. Martinville to secure this funding through the cash portion of the capital outlay bill that funds state projects.

“Anytime you can fund recreational projects, you enhance the quality of life for everyone in the community” Hebert said.

“Mayor Delhomme, President Cormier and other local officials should be commended for taking the time to apply for these funds that will benefit people of all ages” Mills added.

The building will be erected on property adjacent to Parc Hardy in back of the Winn Dixie grocery store. Delhomme said the city purchased that property several years ago as a buffer between the park and a growing neighborhood of apartment complexes.

The building will also serve as a headquarters for the city parks and recreation department, which is currently housed in a rented portable building at the very back of the park.

Delhomme, who frequently meets at the park with key people in his administration and confidants from the community at large, said the building will resemble a community meeting hall next to Henderson City Hall.

“We have no building in the city of Breaux Bridge for like when a hurricane hits or something of that nature,” the mayor said. “It’s going to have a kitchen and a meeting room. It’ll be headquarters for Parks and Recreation, and for the Crawfish Festival.”

The Breaux Bridge Crawfish Festival Association sets up shop in a rented trailer on the festival grounds every year.

“Former Rep. Durand and myself were in the position to fund the project in the cash portion of the bill, so that bonds did not have to be sold. This allows the city of Breaux Bridge to access these funds immediately,” Hebert said.

Each year the state funds various projects that qualify for funding through local governments.