If you've been here before, you've earned the truth — about what worked, what didn't, what we've fixed, and why we're confident the Solomon Center is once again the place you remember it being.
For everyone who held a retreat at the Solomon Center between roughly 2022 and 2025 — including, candidly, those who chose to go elsewhere afterward — this page is for you.
For three decades, this property was simply where Catholic schools went for retreat, where vestries went to plan, where leadership programs gathered. The chapel. The lake. The dining hall. The trail under the pines. It worked. The HVAC worked, most of the time, and no one ever had to think about it.
Then the systems aged. They aged the way infrastructure does — slowly, then suddenly. By 2024, our HVAC was unreliable. The Lodge, which should have been the heart of every retreat, became an apologetic conversation with guests. The Chapel got too warm. Then too cold. Then too warm again. We did our best to keep things running while we figured out a path forward, but we know — and we want to say plainly — that some of you experienced retreats here that didn't represent what this place is supposed to be.
If your group moved their retreat elsewhere during that period, we understood. We watched it happen and held no grudge. The work matters too much for any group to retreat in a space that doesn't support the work.
But we never stopped working on getting this place back.
A complete facility renewal — funded by a $300,000 leadership gift, $386,000 in insurance recovery, and nearly $450,000 from our reserve funds.
Completed late 2025. Modernized HVAC systems throughout the lodging and meeting buildings & the chapel — efficient, reliable, and properly sized for our typical group volumes. The temperature is no longer a part of your retreat agenda.
Status: Complete · Operating since fall 2025
Twelve of our fifteen roofs are brand new. Water stains repaired and painted, splitting wallpaper replaced, windows sealed. No more worrying about what's on the ceiling other than the beauty beyond the glass windows.
Status: Complete
We didn't restore this property to make it look like a different place. The chapel still smells of pine and old wood. The light through the windows still moves across the altar the way it always has. The lake is still there at dawn — quiet, mirror-flat, ringed with cypress. The trails still lead where they led before.
The staff who knew your group's name when you arrived in 2018? Most are still here. The rhythms that made retreats here feel cared-for rather than processed — they remain.
The buildings are renewed. The soul is the same.
We've been holding dates. We know which weekends your group used to come. We'd be honored to welcome you home.
If you'd prefer a personal conversation rather than a form, call directly. Fr. Robert Beazley, our Executive Director, takes these calls personally.
Total restoration investment: nearly $1.25 million. Funded by a generous lead donor, our insurance recovery from facility damage, and our own carefully managed reserves. The Diocese of Louisiana has continued to support the mission throughout. We're grateful — and we're committed to the next generation of stewardship.