Pineville working to restore and modernize Old Town Hall Museum

PINEVILLE, La. (KALB) - For around a decade, Pineville’s Old Town Hall Museum has sat locked and unused on Main Street, with relics of the past collecting dust inside.

The building served as Pineville’s town hall from 1931 to 1974. It housed many of the city’s services, including the mayor’s office, the fire and police stations, the city jail and the library. It was converted into a museum when Pineville’s new town hall was built but then closed altogether.

“We have here a true treasure chest, a treasure chest that needs to be opened and on view again for all the public to see, and most importantly, to learn from,” said local historian Michael Wynne.

Now, the City of Pineville is working to restore and modernize the museum for the next generation of Pineville residents to enjoy.

“This is one of the premier anchors of our downtown area,” said Doug Gann, Director of Economic Development for the City of Pineville. “A building that is this old and has this much history in it then it’s time that this story gets told - it is such a great story and it’s time. It’s one of Mayor Dupree’s focal points is to get this open so it can be the anchor that it needs to be.”

The building itself will need substantial renovations on the inside, but the unique brick designs in the building’s facade remain intact, under layers of dirt.

“If you could see beyond the dirt, to the magnificent beautiful brickwork, art deco brickwork, you can’t find that in any other building in Central Louisiana,” said Wynne. “This building is beautiful.”

There is no timeline on when the project will be completed, but the vision for the finished product goes beyond being ‘just a museum’.

“We will make this a center of the Pineville area culture and community, where people can come and meet with other people, and not just learn about their history but share and create new history,” said Wynne. “All that can occur and start in this building when we get it fixed up and ready for the public again.”

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