Cajundome Roof: Wow

[LouisianaB]

Looks like the $7.1 million grant was for COVID relief; it could have been used for maintenance but I think they concentrated on using it to pay staff and more generalized maintenance. This isn't gonna happen again. Presumably it replace lost revenue generated by events.

The hotel tax is only paid by those who stay in hotels; its not incurred by Jeaux Lafayette Citizen.

That leaves 250k from the State (a nominal amount) and 600k from the CITY (the folks in the Parish do not contribute to this).

Should the Cajundome put money away for a larger ongoing maintenance issue like this? Absolutely. But (as has been pointed out), we do a bad job of considering maintenance once we've built something (Moncus Park, anybody?).

My point was just that I don't think there is this huge bucket of public tax dollars available to the Cajundome administrators to run and maintain the facility.

I personally wasn’t saying that. That was Cantstandza’s stupid ass

[Cantstandza]

I personally wasn’t saying that. That was Cantstandza’s stupid ass

LOL

[bigearl]

Why not just paint the roof black? Because it's not a school color?!?!?!??!?!

[ZoomZoom]

Its all good.

Make no mistake. We got a dirty roof. While I agree that it is something unique to our local climate, it frustrates the he'll out of me that maintenance and ongoing expenses of what we build isn't a consideration.

We are so short-sighted in this. That's why we end up with roads like Ambassador, Congress, S. College....5 lanes of concrete with minimal effort to install sidewalks or consider greenspace.

Because if we have wider sidewalks with a little greenspace and a road with a median, we would have had to buy additional right-of-way AND cut the grass later.

Sorry, but we just don't build anything we can take pride in cause it costs more than we are prepared to pay.

Everybody wants something for nothing and you get what you pay for.

And not directed at you...just a general rant.

Had almost this exact discussion with a southside resident complaining about traffic last week. The state built Ambassador South with the "promise" of no new turning lanes and lights. It was a nice road originally, could really move along at a good pace.

But it has become EXACTLY what Broussard and Youngsville wanted...a "loop" to the southwest side of Lafayette. They could give two clucks about sidewalks or safe accessibility from a controled intersection. They got their road and will develop every inch they can with only revenue in mind. They don't have the nuts to zone property where the access is off the main road. Meanwhile, welcome to the new Johnston Street.

Keep this in mind when you hear I-49 and loop to the east. They all want a road that has stoplights and turning lanes too. NONE of the small towns want a true limited access roadway. It's the same reason the Evangeline Thruway got jammed where it is...downtown merchants wanted it right where it is today. And it's the same reason the project isn't done yet...nothing to be gained locally in the long run other than safe, smooth and efficient passage thru the city, freeing up local roadways in the area below. I know they are still 3-4 years from the engineering being done, but the I-49 Connector will happen.

Thanks CM...hit one of my pet peeves....lol.

Getting back on topic, dome roof is like grandma's drawers...wash, rinse, repeat.

[Cajun Monkee]

Had almost this exact discussion with a southside resident complaining about traffic last week. The state built Ambassador South with the "promise" of no new turning lanes and lights. It was a nice road originally, could really move along at a good pace.

But it has become EXACTLY what Broussard and Youngsville wanted...a "loop" to the southwest side of Lafayette. They could give two clucks about sidewalks or safe accessibility from a controled intersection. They got their road and will develop every inch they can with only revenue in mind. They don't have the nuts to zone property where the access is off the main road. Meanwhile, welcome to the new Johnston Street.

Keep this in mind when you hear I-49 and loop to the east. They all want a road that has stoplights and turning lanes too. NONE of the small towns want a true limited access roadway. It's the same reason the Evangeline Thruway got jammed where it is...downtown merchants wanted it right where it is today. I know they are still 3-4 years from the engineering being done, but the I-49 Connector will happen.

Thanks CM...hit one of my pet peeves....lol.

Getting back on topic, dome roof is like grandma's drawers...wash, rinse, repeat.

THIS. THIS. THIS.

THIS of Bundy-esque proportions.

Seems like there are more curb cuts along Ambassador every time we go that way.

I remember when we proposed some limited access along the Verot widening, this old boy agreed with us...just wanted one curb to access his property.

Just so happened he had a 1400 foot frontage along Verot and wanted a 1400 foot curb cut with a corresponding 1400 foot turn lane for folks turning left off of Verot.

And his use? Mini-storage buildings.

This is why a southwestern "loop" paid for with tolls will never work. Limited access will necessarily require access (service/frontage) roads. People have already said they would use the service roads rather than use the actual (tolled) limited access interstate quality "loop".

Sorry for the threadjack, but its just an example of how we think in this area with regard to projects, their funding, and their eventual maintenance.

[HelmutVII]

That is my great fear of all the new buildings on campus. They built them but can they maintain them. I dunno. The old dorms were built with masonry partition walls, concrete floors, and asbestos shingles. The new dorms, etc were build with wooden structure, plywood floors and asphalt shingles.

The parking garages are nice .......now. but can they keep them clean? I dunno. The stairwells stink like pee. there is trash all over and graffiti in spots. Every now and then you look down and see a syringe. They do have low maintenance landscaping though.

We have a President that pays attention to these things ....... now. Joe Savoie won't be here forever. Money gets tight in the future the first thing to get cut is.......Maintenance.

[Turbine]

My son wrestled three times in one day. And he was there all day.

The only food he had access to was hot dogs, nachos, and soda.

The parents would have preferred bringing something in a bit healthier.

We couldn't. Because the arena wouldn't let us.

These things are negotiated ahead of time by prudent parties.

End users have no say, they have to live with what was agreed to. The wrestling organizers didn't do their due diligence, and you paid the price.

When negotiations are fruitless, those multi-day conventions and multi-night hotel stays end up in Lake Charles, Baton Rouge and New Orleans instead of Lafayette.

[ZoomZoom]

That is my great fear of all the new buildings on campus. They built them but can they maintain them. I dunno. The old dorms were built with masonry partition walls, concrete floors, and asbestos shingles. The new dorms, etc were build with wooden structure, plywood floors and asphalt shingles.

The parking garages are nice .......now. but can they keep them clean? I dunno. The stairwells stink like pee. there is trash all over and graffiti in spots. Every now and then you look down and see a syringe. They do have low maintenance landscaping though.

We have a President that pays attention to these things ....... now. Joe Savoie won't be here forever. Money gets tight in the future the first thing to get cut is.......Maintenance.

If I were a gambling man, I'd have to put my money on this happening. T-Joe is getting at that age...the most important hire UL will make in the next 10 years isn't a coach or AD...it will be a president of our university. And I pray T-Joe holds on until we get a new governor.

[Cajun Monkee]

That is my great fear of all the new buildings on campus. They built them but can they maintain them. I dunno. The old dorms were built with masonry partition walls, concrete floors, and asbestos shingles. The new dorms, etc were build with wooden structure, plywood floors and asphalt shingles.

The parking garages are nice .......now. but can they keep them clean? I dunno. The stairwells stink like pee. there is trash all over and graffiti in spots. Every now and then you look down and see a syringe. They do have low maintenance landscaping though.

We have a President that pays attention to these things ....... now. Joe Savoie won't be here forever. Money gets tight in the future the first thing to get cut is.......Maintenance.

Yup.

That's why we need to be careful with Cajun Field. Bells and whistles are cool, but a functional stadium that is gonna require a manageable maintenance schedule, to me, is more important.

I get that the Dome is a different animal, but if you have to make the choice between a decent basketball court or a clean roof (or a state of the art concession stand or a new field), you go with the court and the field.

[LouisianaB]

I asked some questions and got the following answers:

1. The discoloration of the roof is due to both green and red algae. Most of what everyone is seeing that looks “black” is the red algae.

2. The roof coating itself is functioning properly with no leaks in the membrane or outer coating. We have had the manufacturer of the coating inspect it for defect of application, but they could not find any. Algae growth is common and nearly impossible to prevent in our climate.

3. We do indeed have a 20 year warranty on the roof coating, but only for function (weatherproof, protection, etc), but not for cleanliness. No manufacturers offer a warranty for cleanliness, that we could find in 2015-2016 when the design phase of that project started.

4. We are not using the same company that applied the coating in 2017. We followed the state procurement guidelines for getting quotes and awarding the job to the lowest quote. The total quote is $49,500.

5. The project should start within the next couple of weeks. We are waiting for the cleaning product that the coating manufacturer recommended to maintain the warranty we do have. Once started, the process should only take about 1 week, depending on weather.