DONALDSONVILLE — A week after the Mulberry Grove Farm sharecropper era cabins were torn down, preserving the buildings was a concern for Ascension Parish residents.

River Road African American Executive Director and Co-founder Darryl Hambrick said he has been in the historical preservation business for more than 30 years.

This focus on preservation is central to the River Road African American Museum, which is constructed from preserved historical structures. Among them is the Rosenwald School, which Hambrick said was built in the 1930s but took more than 26 years to preserve.

Hambrick said he did not know the buildings would be torn down, but preserving their history is not as easy as some people may think.

“You can’t just think that it’s just something that you're going to put paint on the walls and preserve it. You have guidelines and restrictions, and most of all, do you have the funding?” Hambrick said.

Building on these challenges, Hambrick said preserving history is costly.

“You have to have somebody who not only has the education and the background to do it, but is also willing to do the research, and the experts to do it as well."

Ascension Parish Government told WBRZ there aren’t any historic structure restrictions in the parish, and it doesn’t maintain records of private or third-party historic preservation funding to see if the cabins received any federal or state funding for maintenance.

Hambrick has ample money and time to preserve buildings, but it takes the community's will to invest in historical preservation.

“I invite everyone to come to this museum and learn about the history, and you’ll understand the importance of those cabins," Hambrick said. "The next time you’ll pass by, you won’t say, 'That’s those cabins.' You’ll say, 'What can I do to preserve the history of those cabins?'"

The parish said it issues demolition permits when electrical, mechanical, or plumbing services are involved, and the cabins did not have any of these utilities.