CYPREMORT POINT — Cypremort Point’s new pavilion has been appreciated by outdoorsmen for several months, particularly during saltwater fishing contests as it kept the sun and rain off them at and between weigh-ins.

On Friday, it was appreciated by the people responsible for getting it there — St. Mary Parish officials, two state representatives and the Sugar Chapter of the Coastal Conservation Association of Louisiana. The spit of land on the side of Quintana Canal lacked a pavilion ever since Hurricane Rita destroyed a much smaller pavilion in September 2005.

“I love it. It’s beautiful. Unreal,” said lifelong Cypremort Point resident Butch Schouest, a commercial shrimper whose family moved here from the Houma area in the 1940s.

Schouest, 58, said, “It’s going to be a benefit to the Cypremort Point community to have something like this.”

Construction on the $176,000 project began in August 2010 and was finished in February, said St. Mary Parish CAP Bo LaGrange. It was funded by a state grant of $46,116 with the balance of funds allocated from the Quintana Boat Launch Permit Fee Fund.

Schouest and a small crowd attended the ribbon cutting ceremony Friday. State Reps. Simone Champagne, R-Jeanerette, and Sam Jones, D-Franklin; St. Mary Parish President Paul Naquin; St. Mary Parish Chief Administrative Officer Bo LaGrange; Iberia Parish President Ernest Freyou, and CCA Louisiana Executive Director David Cresson were on hand with six Sugar Chapter representatives, including the outgoing president, Corry Landry of New Iberia.

“You all are the greatest. This is a wonderful chapter,” Champagne told Landry, Blake Fouqier, Brian Delcambre and Kristine Trahan, all of New Iberia, and Kirk Sieber of St. Martinville, the first president of the Sugar Chapter. 

“This area deserved something like this. I call this a regional effort. That’s what we should be doing. We want to continue to do that,” she said.

Jones said, “She (Champagne) really spearheaded this project. I want to thank her. She’s tough and feisty.”

Landry said he and other members approached Champagne and Jones several years ago about getting a structure built at the Point. He was prepared to work with other groups and organizations to seek funding for a pavilion but changed his mind, he said, to “let Simone work her magic.”

“It’s not only for CCA to reap the benefits but for other organizations and groups,” Landry said. “This came out outstanding. It’s something for all clubs and organizations to utilize.”

Fouqier, who will be the next president of the Sugar Chapter, said, “It came out great. I’m sure this weekend the Lydia Cancer Association will have a great weekend, then the Knights of Columbus for their rodeo.”

The sheer size of the 40 foot by 80 foot pavilion, with a sloping roof and concrete floor, both built to withstand hurricane force winds, surprised some people this summer.

Schouest said he wasn’t surprised.

“I pretty much knew how big it would be,” he said, noting he keeps in touch with Naquin, a friend.