Donaldsonville museum shows restoration from humble beginnings

Through the years, strides have been made in the restoration of the River Road African American Museum office building at 406 Charles St. in Donaldsonville.

The museum shared before and after photos of the building, showing the improvements made to the building located next to City Hall.

Board members have worked to paint and raise money to restore the interior walls, while local business Graugnard Furniture Store is donating all of the carpets. Additionally, the City of Donaldsonville funded the heating and air conditioning and handicap ramping. Harold Hambrick donated a sink, toilet and furniture for the project.

A special part of the restoration is the bricks on the front steps excavated from nearby slave quarters. The gift was donated by Shell thanks to Amos Favorite, the board president and an engineer at Shell.

"It's been an incredibly rewarding journey restoring this historic building with so many supporters behind it. We're very excited about what comes next and grateful for all those who have helped bring this vision to life," a spokesperson stated.