Moving Forward Archive

Much of St. Landry Parish tourism revolves around our history. We are a place where long held traditions in food and music are still honored, where a unique culture is hugely influenced by Cajun and Creole ways that can be traced back for centuries. But in St. Landry we use some of the most modern tools available to display and explain who and what we are.

One of the latest and most innovative of those tools is a glass topped table standing in the center of the St. Landry Parish Visitor Center near Exit 23 at the intersection of Interstate 49 and U.S. Hwy 167 just south of Washington.

The building itself has won several architectural awards and is a symbol of the old-meets-new philosophy of our tourism leaders. It integrates modern technology such as a wind turbine and solar panels into a traditional Louisiana building with shaded porches and an old time cistern to collect rainwater. The floor of the exhibition hall is made from locally salvaged centuries old longleaf pine lumber.

The latest technological marvel, the “Explore St. Landry” multi-touch mult-imedia table, sits in the middle of that floor—a piece of high tech wizardry that looks no more out of place than the table in a Cajun kitchen.

It is the first of its kind in Louisiana and offers a hands-on way to learn more about St. Landry attractions that is almost as much fun as visiting them. Nothing could be easier to use. Touch the table here and photo galleries appear, touch it 

there and historical information pops up, watch a video by touching again. If you want to know how to get to what you’re seeing, touch again and the table will print a map and driving directions.

Creation of the “multi-touch table” was a joint effort between Teamwork Solutions Group of nearby Lafayette, and multi-touch display manufacturer Ideum Inc. of Corrales, New Mexico. The idea came about when St. Landry tourism director Celeste Gomez saw a similar display in Los Angeles.

“While visiting the newly opened Grammy museum in Los Angeles, I was impressed with a similar exhibit, where multiple users could explore details regarding the different genres of music,” she said. “It was something I kept in the back of my mind as a potential application for our visitor center.”

Lt. Gov. Jay Dardenne, who oversees the Louisiana tourism industry, when he saw the table in the St. Landry center.

“The facility itself state-of-the-art,” he said, “and now, having this table, it’s also a first and a one-of-a-kind for Louisiana tourism. It’s a great opportunity for people to learn more about St. Landry Parish and know where they want to be and understand the sights and sounds of St. Landry—it’s really a great, innovative step for tourism.”

He also liked the fact that the software for the table was created nearby.