Business is down by up to 90 percent

By KEVIN CHIRI

Publisher

LAPLACE — Quietly lost to many among the hurricane disasters has been the incredible hit taken by the famous River Region plantations.

Most plantations in the area are reporting tourism business down by at least 90 percent, leading to rumors in the region that some plantations may be filing for bankruptcy.

However in a L’Observateur tour of all area plantations in the past two months, the good news is that the River Region treasures are apparently going to survive, thanks to the innovative thinking of management at the local sites.

At San Francisco Plantation, tourism business is down &#8220over 90 percent” according to assistant manager Aleisha Accardo, but thanks to the San Francisco Foundation, it is helping the home to survive.

&#8220We are booking a lot more special events and social activities, and thanks to the fact we are a foundation which is non-profit, we have a Friends of the Plantation group which is helping us with donations,” she said. &#8220But clearly we are facing a huge challenge.”

San Francisco also pulls in some good revenue from their annual festivals, and will be adding one in March of this year to help.

Several other plantations are also aided by foundations, and many are also going to the special event route to help survive during this difficult time.

Destrehan Plantation, Oak Alley and Evergreen also have foundations to assist with their survival, but all have still gone to special new ways of generating revenue.

Oak Alley, which has traditionally been the best known region plantation, has seen its tourism business go from an average of 750 people a day, to a low of 27 a day through October and November.

However Director Zeb Mayhew, who has led the plantation since 1976, said they let go 100 of their 145 employees, and now have many people doing things they never used to do.

&#8220The loss of the convention stream from New Orleans has hurt us tremendously,” he said. &#8220But the good news is that we are going to survive. The foundation has money saved and we are having to use some of that. I think this whole hurricane event has shown people the value of tourism in many ways in the whole area, not just for the plantations. It is an incredible resource for Louisiana, but my guess is that it will be as late as 2007 before it completely comes back.”

Evergreen Plantation on the West Bank also has a special resource in owner Matilda Gray, who bought the site in the 1940s.

Director Jane Boddie said Gray is determined to never let the beautiful plantation fall into disarray.

&#8220Mrs. Gray restored the plantation in 1998 and now is using her own money to help us survive,” she said. &#8220We’ve cut our maintenance budget out for the most part for this year, and our main goal now is to just maintain the property, without any major improvements. But we are fortunate since Mrs. Gray is going to maintain this plantation whether the money is coming in or not.”

She said that many of the 12 employees there have been working as volunteers or on a part-time basis to help survive, including two tour guides who have been there nearly 10 years and are even helping to mow the grass.

Laura Plantation, which was already recovering from a major fire, has found itself in the same situation of seeing the tourism business dry up almost entirely.

While a trickle of people still come, Laura Plantation Corporation President Norman Marmillion put a sign out front letting people know he was still in business.

&#8220Fire, Flood, Hurricanes, Lightning, Earthquakes, Cannonballs, Tornados-Laura’s Here to Stay!” is the way he has let the public know that he will not be deterred by any natural disaster.

&#8220We laid off most of our staff of 33, with some volunteers still helping. But the drop in tourism has been unbelievable,” he explained. &#8220We’re down 90 percent at least, but we will survive, I can at least say that.”

Marmillion showed how bad the business has been for many by noting he had only five visitors a day in October, but now has seen it go to 15 a day in November, with an even bigger increase through the holidays.

&#8220New Orleans tourism is slowly coming back,” he said. &#8220And that means we will get them as well,.”

Destrehan Plantation has begun renting out a barn in the back for special events, and also pushing for weddings, and other social outings for businesses.

Owned by the River Road Historical Society, they are adding a spring/summer festival, and will again begin their popular craft shows in February as the business slowly rebounds.

&#8220We had to let some staff go, but most were part time,” Director Nancy Robert said. &#8220We have also been down 90 percent, but we’ve been encouraged by what we are seeing is a slow improvement.”

St. Joseph Plantation, only opened for the first time in the past year on the West Bank, is also open for tours and was like most others in losing what tourism business they had begun to get.

Up the river at Poche Plantation, new owner Mark Anderson may be surviving better than most, thanks to a large RV park he added to the facility, which now houses over 50 emergency relief workers. He isn’t even open for tours yet, after he allowed people to stay for free in the plantation for a month after the storm.

&#8220We housed about 200 people, and even cooked meals in the courtyard for them,” he said. &#8220It just seemed like the right thing to do.”

All other plantations are open for tours other than Ormond Plantation, and directors are urging local River Region residents to come and visit during their critical time. Ormond suffered serious damage to the property, but said they hope to open by February.

&#8220We hope the local people will support us,” Accardo said. &#8220The plantations are a great treasure here, and many people right here have probably never visited them. Now will be a good time to do that.”