Central Park Project Is On Schedule, Ahead Of Fundraising Timeline

Delivering an update on the process of bringing Lafayette's Central Park to fruition, project leaders told the Lafayette City-Parish Council tonight that organizers are meeting deadlines and are even slightly ahead of fundraising goals.

"We are ahead of our plan on fundraising," said Lenny Lemoine, chairman of the Board of Directors for Lafayette Central Park. "If we expected to be 25 percent complete, we are at 30, but we still have 70 (percent) to go."

Elizabeth Brooks, Lafayette Central Park's director of Planning & Design, said park planners will be hosting several meetings this week with landscape architects to discuss details such as signage and materials needed to augment the grounds. She also told the council the first phase of meetings with architects is also scheduled for this week. In those gatherings, planners will discuss the buildings that will be included in the park's grand scheme.

As far as the timeline goes, Lemoine said everything is on schedule, but there is still plenty that needs to be done before construction begins.

"We want to be under construction, out there, within a year from now," Lemoine added. "So we need to have $20-plus million raised by this time next year. We're about 35 percent of that done so far."