Athletics Plan Gets Warm Reception – $115 million in improvements unveiled to public

Chad Washington, Daily Advertiser, March 23, 2013

It was something that many Ragin’ Cajuns fans have been waiting for: a look into the future of University of Louisiana at Lafayette athletics.

Fans and boosters had their first glimpse at the UL athletics master plan Friday at the Leon Moncla Indoor Practice Facility. The plan, unveiled on Thursday, was given a thumbs-up by UL fans.

"It’s been a long-time waiting for this, and it’s exciting to see the future that encompasses all sports," said Paul Simon, a UL booster.

A nearby business with interest in the plan was the Hilton Garden Inn, located across the street from Cajun Field and within walking distance to the athletic facilities. General manager Bart Ferrell and sales manager Melanie Shammont said they were very impressed.

"Look at the thing, it’s beautiful," Shammont said.

The master plan includes renovations to just about every athletic facility on the UL campus, which includes Cajun Field, M.L. "Tigue" Moore Field, the soccer and track stadium, the athletics practice facility and the academic center.

The improvements to Cajun Field are the centerpiece of the plan, which included adding more seats in five phases, putting the stadium’s seating capacity to 65,000. The first phase is adding seats to the south end of the stadium, improvements to the soccer/track stadium and a new practice facility that could be started this summer. Once the final phase of the stadium is complete, Cajun Field would have an upper deck surrounding the whole playing field.

"I think once they complete all phases, you’re not going to recognize that place at all," Simon said. "I think that it’s neat that everything is going to be redone."

The upgrades will cost $115 million, and most of the funds will come from UL boosters through the Ragin’ Cajuns Athletics Fund. However, there was no sign of sticker shock on the faces on many of the boosters that showed up Friday.

"I don’t think that anyone thinks that UL is a second-rate school," Ferrell said. "And they shouldn’t have second-rate facilities for their student-athletes. I think it’s a rallying point. We’ve seen what (head) coach (Mark) Hudspeth has done with football and what coach Brodhead has done with basketball. These are all exciting things, and the community is coming in. You can see it in the ticket sales and the support of the teams.

"This is part of the huge spark that is becoming a bonfire at this point, and I don’t think the community is going to waffle on this."