This is the Waveland Civic Center, 

which was built in 1927. It’s the last 

historical structure that we have left 

in the city of Waveland. It was the 

original elementary school, 

built by CSX railroad and structurally, 

it was almost petrified so when Katrina hit 

over half of the building was gone, 

but it was the only structure that had 

anything left for miles around 

and since it was the only historical 

structure left in the city of Waveland, 

FEMA was gracious enough to work 

with us and allow us to restore it. 

Everybody had lost everything in 

the community, and this was our 

old downtown, the heart and soul 

of the community.

This is part of the restoration where 

they really did their best of restoring 

the building to its original way 

it was in 1927. You can see the 

beautiful ceilings, the artwork that’s 

in the ceilings, the heartpine floors, 

the tongue and groove walls. 

This auditorium was used for 

dance recitals, ya know, all the girls 

in the community had their 

danced recitals on the old stage. 

This is a beautiful auditorium and 

with all of our structures, all the 

city buildings being gone, this room 

has been used for the last year for 

our city council meetings.


It’s coming back downtown, it’s the 

heart and soul of the community and 

holding the meetings here gives it that 

little something extra. 

So, saving this building was not only  

saving a structure but was saving what 

little history that a lot of people 

in our community had left to hold 

onto and it meant so much.