Two items related to historical preservation were among the items considered by the Pineville Downtown Development District at their June 30 meeting at the Pineville City Council Chambers.

Local historian Michael Wynne spoke to the commissioners about placing historical markers by the live oaks in front of the old Huey P. Long Hospital. The markers would commemorate the hospital and explain its history and significance. Pineville’s Huey P. Long hospital was the flagship of a network of eight charity hospitals throughout Louisiana. The live oak-lined street leading to the hospital was built by the WPA who also planted the trees. The hospital had an immeasurable impact on central Louisiana during the years it was open. The proposal was for the cost to be shared half and half between the Pineville DDD and the City of Pineville.

The second preservation related item was a proposal from local historian Paul Price to fund the restoration of the decorative ironwork surrounding the gravesite of the Casson family. The ironwork is in the form of an ornate fence and gate, known as the “Casson Fence”. The gate has been moved to storage for safekeeping and the fence has fallen into disrepair. The Casson gravesite and the Flower-Sprigg family gravesite are the only two graves in Rapides parish that are known to have decorative ironwork from the Robert Wood & Co. Ironworks of Philadelphia, giving the gravesites a noteworthy historical significance,

Both of these projects are designed to preserve important aspects of Pineville’s and the surrounding area’s rich history before they are lost to the ravages of time and neglect.