If you’ve ever been to Lewisburg, chances are good you were lost. Not even Google can find it without a struggle. Do a search for this tiny St. Landry Parish village tucked between Opelousas and Church Point and the first link is a map of the north shore of Lake Pontchartrain that is only off by 150 or so miles.
These days, Lewisburg’s biggest claim to fame may be Vidrine’s Café, where you can buy a 32-ounce sirloin, a champagne of a steak for a Kool-Aid price. Lewisburg’s other claim to fame is now closed and up for sale. Bourque’s Club, a Cajun music nightspot for more than half a century, is now available to the highest bidder.
Owner Marie Bourque held the last dance in September. In early December, the club was put on the market through Southern Living Real Estate of Opelousas. The closure of Bourque’s is the latest in a disturbing trend in southwest Louisiana, the cradle of Cajun music and zydeco. Dancehalls, once the entertainment and social backbone of numerous communities, are being replaced by stores, self-service gas stations and empty lots.
Bourque’s becomes the third major dancehall in the Lafayette area to close in the past nine months. Two Lafayette clubs, Hamilton’s Place, a zydeco landmark for 49 years, and Grant Street Dancehall, a mecca of all music for 25 years, have shut their doors.
El Sid-O’s, Richard’s Club, La Poussiere and other renowned halls remain, some with reduced dance schedules. But Marie Bourque says the rash of casinos and other diversions have stretched the local entertainment dollar too thin.
“The casinos took it,” says Bourque. “When I called the sheriff’s department to tell them I was not going to renew my license, they said the casinos were taking all the business.”
A long wooden building with a tin roof, Bourque’s has nearly 5,000-square feet of dance area. The club, with all its equipment, tables and chairs, along with an adjoining three-bedroom house, is a steal at $65,000. But the music and memories shared in the place are priceless. Through the years, the latest and greatest Cajun musicians have played there.
Some loyal couples waltzed and two-stepped there every Saturday night for more than 40 years. Bourque said the faithful few were still dancing, but few young people were.
“When I closed, they all told me they understood,” said Bourque. “I couldn’t make it with just that. It was just too slow and yet, if I would have had a zydeco band sometimes, I think we could have made a go of it. That’s what the young people want. I’m hoping some young ones can come in and do something with it. I’m too old.”
New owners could capitalize on the club’s worldwide fame. In the late 1990s, USA Today named Bourque’s in its Top 10 list of the nation’s best dancehalls. The list also included the Grand Ole Opry. The club has been featured in the Smithsonian Magazine, Travel Holiday, Louisiana Life and other publications. Portions of Schultze Gets the Blues, a 2003 German film about retired miner and polka accordion player who falls in love with zydeco, were filmed there. Just last year, NHK TV of Japan filmed a documentary at Bourque’s. But Bourque says the international attention has not been able to stop the hands of time.
“The older generation is fading,” says Bourque. “The young ones are taking over and they want the hip music. The bands that play the traditional Cajun music are going out. There’s no place for them to go.”
Contact Herman Fuselier at [email protected].
