Computer Science Building

[Cajun Express]

_

Indoor Practice Facility: April 2006

Computer Science Building: Aug-Sept. 2005

This does not take into account the delay on actually getting started. _

So at three plus times the budget, a hundred plus times the sophistication, and dozens of times the rooms, they both took about the same time to build. One is a metal building that is suppose to save time and money, the other a brick facade, with tens of thousands of square feet of drywall, flooring, ceilings, and hundreds of thousands of linear feet of electrical and coaxial cables. Yea we got a real winner on the IDPF.

[cajunblogger]

I have heard that Lourdes has purchased property across from Women's & Children's for development. It may be a good time to see if there is buildings & land available to the university for expansion. There is sizeable acreage & buildings on their current campus. Probably more suitable than the Girard Park land swap.

[CajunGator]

_ I have heard that Lourdes has purchased property across from Women's & Children's for development. It may be a good time to see if there is buildings & land available to the university for expansion. There is sizeable acreage & buildings on their current campus. Probably more suitable than the Girard Park land swap. _

Great idea on all fronts

[rhineaux]

_ Great idea on all fronts _

True, but, I want to say that they are developing that land for expansion, not to replace what they already have. i think the thought is that W&C is not a major hospital and doesn't have the abilities that Lourdes and LGMC does. Currently, the folks in the Youngsville area and beyond do not ahve a major hospital without having to travel well into Lafayette. This would change that.

[Cajunbander]

About 20 years ago I thought about this idea---Jesuit in NO had bought a city square block that upset some folkes but really helped the school to reach it's schools---I would have called it Cajun town and consisted of big housing areas with fun bars, restuarants,coffee shops, ice cream parlors, etc around a centered area---Well why not?????

Here's what I'm thinking. More and More people graduating from UL are thinking this way. Thinking that we need to buy out land and expand UL around the main campus. It's awesome to have a new athletic complex, and the state of the art LITE Center, but we need to build buildings around campus. I think that it would still be difficult now to do that sorta thing, because Lafayette still has a number of people supporting the purple and gold (ugh). I believe that the tide is starting to turn though. UL alumni are starting to realize that UL is growing to be a major school, and are willing to support buying the neighborhoods around campus to expand. I'm talking about the last say 20 or 25 years worth of alumni, and maybe even farther than that, maybe going back to the '70's.

It's not just with UL, its with the city in general. People are starting to realize how much potential Lafayette has. People aren't as afraid of it becoming a major city. (I, for one, am excited about the growth of Lafayette) More and more people are willing to disrupt things in order to expand, look at the I-49 Connector project.

I just think its a matter of time, and not too too long hopefully, before it changes completely. One thing I've noticed lately is that I have been seeing a hell of a lot more UL bumper stickers and window decals. Yes!! Finally! People in Lafayette are finally starting to support their home town college! Yesterday driving down Johnston, I saw a van with LSU Mom sticker on it, yet what sticker was prominently displayed on top of it? University of Louisiana!

This is definitely a trend I can get behind.


This brings me to something else. I love Lafayette. I haven't heard of another place that's as unique as here. Lafayette is by no means a small city anymore. "As of the 2000 census, the city had a total population of 110,257; a 2004 census estimate put the metro area's population at 246,160." (Taken from Wikipedia.org) Metro area, man, thats awesome sounding to me. Yet we've still somehow retained that hometown feel. I graduated from Acadiana High, and going around town, to the mall and other businesses, I see people I graduated with all the time. Or I used to be able to go to certain places or business and peolpe'd know me by name. Yet there's probably around 250,000 people living in Lafayette proper, not to mention the people who come here from Scott, Duson, Ridge, Judice and all the other little places around the city. With all these people, we could change the tide for UL, for the better.

[Zeebart21]

Lafayette is definitely unique. Still a small town feel to some degree, but with all the amenities of a larger suburban area. I cant tell you when the last time was that I had to go to Houston or N.O. for something that I couldn't find here.

Z.

Z.

[USLJim]

_ Nice! Is this on the fast track, track and field track, or heaven forbid the hotel track? _

NO it is operational and in full teaching mode

[Cajun Power]

_ About 20 years ago I thought about this idea---Jesuit in NO had bought a city square block that upset some folkes but really helped the school to reach it's schools---I would have called it Cajun town and consisted of big housing areas with fun bars, restuarants,coffee shops, ice cream parlors, etc around a centered area---Well why not????? _

A lot of this could be achieved through private development.

The block bordered by Johnston, University, General Gardener and General Mouton could be redeveloped completely. More "luxury student apartments" which seem to be the trend, along with Coffee Shops, a sports bar, a UL store and a host of other possibilities would be cool. Get people living around campus, and hanging out around campus after school. If people don't live across town, whether at home or in an apartment, they are more likely to be involved in extracurricular activities.

Also, another area that has the potential to be redeveloped is the strip. The bars there are trash. They can't compete at all with downtown, even though downtown is more expensive and doesn't cater exclusively to the college crowd. The new apartment complex behind Lafayette Motors will add more foot traffic through that area, but I would suggest building more mixed-use stuff there. You can still keep the bars, but there is a lot of vacant property that could be developed/redeveloped to make way for student condos and apartments, and then you could have restaurants and stores. It would be more of a community feel, than just a strip of dive bars that are open on Wednesday and Friday. If I had the kind of captial to invest in something like this I would. As a UL student and someone who lived there I know the kind of potential it has.

I think waiting for the university to develop something on this scale would mean a long wait. They need to add on campus housing and upgrade what they have, but there is a lot of potential for redevelopment in the area around campus. This is mentioned in the Lafayette smart growth plan.