OPELOUSAS, La. (KLFY) -- Bringing life, energy and, more importantly, business back to Downtown Opelousas has been a pretty big priority for the past several years. And now even more steps are being taken in the right direction by focusing on bigger pieces of property like the former of Abdalla's shopping center and other vacant businesses right in the heart of downtown.

"I have been in conversations with various key property owners within the downtown area," Bill Rodier, CEO of St. Landry Parish Economic Development, said. "My hope is that by sometime between now and the end of 2024 that we'll really get some of those discussions to kind of lock into place."

Rodier said the entire downtown area of Opelousas used to be a major spot for commerce, which is why so much emphasis has been put on bringing it back to life with things such as the Downtown Development District's building improvement grant. Now, with targeting bigger properties like the former of Abdalla's, Rodier said that the odds are looking even better at getting contractors and renovators ready to go.

"For certain buildings here up to a 55% tax credit for people to come in and look to renovate and rehabilitate these properties," Rodier said. "So, there's significant financial incentive. There's a lot of moving pieces with that. There's a lot of very positive discussion."

But it's not just about bringing in new business. There's also a sentimental side to all this. Walk with me, because it's also about preservation and making sure that these buildings that made Opelousas so special for so many stay standing for years to come.

"You can't recreate hundreds of years of architecture character in a town," Rodier said. "That's what makes it special, is that architecture in those buildings and the history that everybody's tied to. We're working very hard and working with a lot of people to try to put those pieces together."

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