Memorial Hall Museum, Inc. v. University of New Orleans Foundation
Docket: No. 2002-CA-1810
Court: Louisiana Court of Appeal; April 16, 2003; Louisiana; State Appellate Court
The case concerns the ownership of a property in New Orleans, specifically the annex building associated with the Confederate Museum. The appellant, Memorial Hall Museum, Inc. (MHMI), contests the trial court's ruling that the property is owned by the University of New Orleans Foundation (UNO Foundation). The trial court determined that the UNO Foundation holds ownership, rejecting MHMI's claims of ownership through either a donation from Frank T. Howard or acquisitive prescription. MHMI asserts that the property was donated to its predecessor, the Louisiana Historical Association (LHA), or that it acquired title through acquisitive prescription. Conversely, the UNO Foundation contends that there was no donation and that MHMI did not gain ownership through acquisitive prescription, nor did it renounce any such claim if it existed. The trial court granted summary judgment in favor of the UNO Foundation, concluding that the property was not donated and that no acquisitive prescription applied. The court found that Mr. Howard's 1891 speech regarding the building only indicated the LHA's right to use the property, not ownership transfer. The court clarified that possession by the LHA did not equate to ownership, thus negating the possibility of both ten and thirty-year acquisitive prescription claims. The appellate court affirmed the trial court's findings on these matters, emphasizing that Mr. Howard's speech did not confer ownership rights to the LHA. Undisputed evidence indicates that the LHA acknowledged the HMLA as the true owner of the property, rather than asserting its own ownership. In 1912, a committee of the LHA concluded that the property belonged to the HMLA. A 1931 meeting involving both organizations revealed that an attorney retained by the LHA stated that it had no legal claim to the property. The argument from MHMI that a 1931 agreement allowing the HMLA to use part of the museum building constituted an assertion of ownership by the LHA is rejected; the LHA's rights to the entire building originated in 1891, and the 1931 agreement merely reflected a shared understanding of usage rights, not ownership. Additionally, a 1981 resolution by the LHA that denied HMLA's claim to ownership did not demonstrate any change in possession or usage that indicated ownership. Consequently, there is no evidence that the LHA openly possessed the property as an owner for any thirty-year period, and the claim that the LHA acquired ownership through acquisitive prescription is unsubstantiated. The HMLA retained ownership of the property until it was transferred to the UNO Foundation by deed. The trial court's judgment is affirmed, with concurrence from Judges Murray and Gorbaty.