'Restore the Roy' gets incentive boost, could become home to Center for Louisiana Studies

Joshua C. Caffery has two visions for the J. Arthur Roy House: one toward the past, with a planned $800,000 renovation of the 1901 residence; the other toward the future, and moving the Center for Louisiana Studies into the 5,000-square-foot building at the northwest corner of Johnston Street and University Avenue.

Caffery, director of the Center for Louisiana Studies, said the Roy House would present a host of advantages for the center, which is dedicated to researching, publicizing, promoting and preserving Louisiana culture and history. The center has three divisions: The University of Louisiana at Lafayette Press, the Research Division and the Programming and Special Projects Division. That includes the Archive of Cajun and Creole Folklore, which the campus says is the “largest collection of audiovisual materials related to the traditional cultures of southwestern Louisiana.”

The center is raising funds through its “Restore the Roy” campaign, which gained a new initiative this month: a challenge grant of up to $125,000 from the National Endowment for the Humanities, contingent upon UL Lafayette generating up to $375,000 more through other means.