The George Prince ferry bell was supposed to be the final piece of the puzzle when it came to erecting a monument to honor those that lost their lives in the 1976 Luling/Destrehan ferry disaster.
But after the Louisiana State Museum voiced concerns about the effect weather conditions would have on the bell, the committee charged with designing and building the monument was forced to go in a new direction.
Now, filmmaker Royd Anderson is asking for the communities’ help in finding a photo of the George Prince ferry taken before the accident.
The hope is that the photo will allow workers to design a stainless steel representation of the ferry.
“I have not been able to locate a good photo of the ferry from around the time period of the disaster,” Anderson, who wrote and directed a documentary about the disaster, said. “I acquired a photo of a George Prince ferry on the Mississippi River in Natchez, Miss. that was taken in the 1940s, but that ferry has a roof on it, unlike the George Prince ferry of 1976.”
Since the ferry was 50 years old when the disaster occurred, Anderson said modifications may have been made since it had been in operation for so long. But Fred Hurt, the diver who discovered the exact spot where the ferry sank, told Anderson that the photo he has does not show the George Prince ferry that was involved in the disaster.
If Anderson can find a photo of the ferry, the plan is to design an 8-foot-tall monument made of brick and marble at the East Bank Bridge Park. Topping off the monument will be a stainless steel model of the ferry.
“There will also be stations around the memorial that will tell the story of the ferry disaster,” Anderson said. “I wrote the history of the accident for the stations.”
Construction on the monument is scheduled to begin sometime this month after baseball tournaments have ended, Anderson said.
And while the bell, which is currently in storage, will not be used in the monument, Anderson hopes that the Louisiana State Museum will allow it to be placed in the East Bank Regional Library that is now under construction.
“We want to place the bell in the new library and have a screen nearby that will show my documentary on the disaster,” Anderson said.
The disaster took place when the George Prince ferry collided with a tanker in 1976. Seventy-eight people perished in the crash, and most of the family members of the victims still reside in St. Charles Parish.
Anyone with a photo of the ferry can e-mail Anderson at rcand@loyno.edu.
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