Subject: Wall Vaults at St. Louis No. 3--The official version Date: Fri, 19 Jun 1998 22:18:11 -0500 From: ken clay <kclay@bellsouth.net> To: LOUISIANA-ROOTS-L <LOUISIANA-ROOTS-L@LISTSERV.INDIANA.EDU>, Ascension Parish Mailing List <LAASCENS-LA@rootsweb.com>, "St. Charles Parish Mailing List" <LASTCHAR-L@rootsweb.com>, "St. John Parish Mailing List" <LASTJOHN-L@rootsweb.com>, "Mr. Mike Boudreaux" <tburnett@archdiocese-no.org> Dear Friends, I sent my e-mail to Mike Boudreaux, Director of Cemeteries for the Archdiocese of New Orleans this morning. I got a call from Mr. Boudreaux at 11. This is the official version of what is going on at St. Louis No. 3: His office was getting complaints from the people who live at Parc Esplanade, a high rise apartment building nearby. The ceilings on the vaults were caving in. The Cemeteries Office started talking to contractors, consultants, etc. They are concerned about safety issues and the high volume of tourists that pass through the cemetery. I said, "No problem, I understand that something has to be done." The renovation is going to be costly. They've decided to renovate two vaults one at a time and start respectfully removing the remains of those who are buried in the old ones. Before their removal, the Cemeteries Office is going to diligently attempt to contact surviving family members. Their hope is that family members will want to buy a vault in the renovated sections for the remains and for future burials. The purchases will be at a discounted rate. How discounted he did not say. Mr. Boudreaux is planning to put the remains of those who remain unclaimed into several of the renovated vaults. I guess they will place multiple families together. And they have no plans to destroy any records. He was very admanant about that, almost perplexed that we should even consider that possibility considering all of the work, he and Charles Nolan, the Archdiocesan archivist, are putting into preserving the records. (How are we supposed to know that?) Anyway, he really wanted me to get the word out about what was going on and to encourage anyone who has questions to call him. Office phone: (504)596-3050, fax (504)596-3055, or the e-mail address: tburnett@archdiocese-no.org. Well, I feel better. I still want to find cousins to help decide what needs to be done, another separate vault purchase or what. I'm very glad that we got that straightened out. I don't like to give out wrong information, and I'm sorry about that but I wasn't getting a very careful explanation from the Archdiocese. You don't know how much I appreciate your support and help and concern. The e-mails that you sent are a very good thing because now the Archdiocese knows the depth and breadth of the concern all over the world about these cemeteries and our beloved ancestors. I'm sending Mr. Boudreaux a copy of this e-mail so that he can correct any misconceptions that might still remain. Thanks again so much. If you need anything from New Orleans, please don't hesitate to contact me. Sincerely, your friend, Renee Clay