The Acadiana Center for the Arts (AcA) in Lafayette is under contract to purchase the historic Lafayette Hardware Store building with plans to create a new Louisiana Music Museum.

“The old hardware store is one of the most classic, beautiful buildings in Lafayette, and we are excited to take the first steps towards developing it as a new national destination for lovers of Louisiana’s music and culture,” said Samuel Oliver, executive director of the AcA.

Samuel Oliver, executive director of the Acadiana Center for the Arts, stands outside the historic Lafayette Hardware Store building which is currently proposed to become a new Louisiana Music Museum. Photo courtesy of Acadiana Center for the Arts via Facebook.

This project envisions creating a new museum at 121 W. Vermilion Street in downtown Lafayette, immediately adjacent to the AcA, to complement existing visitor destinations and to serve as a new permanent home for the many diverse stories of Louisiana music.

“AcA has secured financing to purchase the property from the Lafayette Public Trust Financing Authority, but the total renovation of the building is a much bigger project,” said Oliver. “We have already begun approaching partners who can make this dream a reality, and we expect that our community will be excited to help see this vision into fruition.”

AcA envisions the building serving as both a museum with daily visitors and as a functional Cajun/Creole dance hall, where visitors and locals alike can gather for generations to come to celebrate the legacy of Louisiana’s musical heritage.

“Although the creation of such a museum, with Cajun and Creole music at its core, has long been a daydream of many in Acadiana’s cultural sector, it is our belief that the AcA’s current plan represents the best and most appropriate route for making it a reality,” says Joshua Caffrey, director of the Center for Louisiana Studies Director at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette.

The AcA’s board of directors has formed a steering committee, which will serve to represent a diverse community of stakeholders and guide the development of the exhibitions and programs that will come with the museum once open. Individuals interested in serving on the committee should send an email to [email protected], where the committee will be accepting members as the project progresses.

The estimated total project cost is estimated at $3.5 million, including property acquisition, design and engineering, construction and exhibition design. The Lafayette Hardware Store was built circa 1890 and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The 10,000-square-foot facility would accommodate Cajun and Creole dances on Saturday and Sunday mornings, weekly talks and jam sessions, and occasional rentals for private events. The facility would include a commercial kitchen, restrooms, back-of-house rooms in addition to space for daily museum operations.

For more information about the Acadiana Center for the Arts, visit here.