re: LSU getting new arena within 4 years

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Using same financing Texas used
Sec is about to feel the wrath of lsu basketball

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The Metro Council voted to approve a motion that will pave the way for the storied 'LSU arena' — a $300M entertainment structure funded by the Tiger Athletic Foundation (TAF).

The project needed the council’s support to move forward to restrict events held at the Raising Cane’s River Center for up to thirty years. Developers did not want competition. Live music and entertainment events at the River Center will be limited to no more than 3,500 attendees. The LSU arena is expected to have more than 15,000+ seats.

Also a part of the private-public partnership agreement is to build a new hotel on the River Center.

Not everyone who spoke up was on board with the stadium.

“The reason people aren’t coming has nothing to do with a bigger stadium,” one speaker said in opposition to the motion.

Others said the vote happened too suddenly and the public wasn’t well enough informed on what the project would entail, though they weren’t necessarily opposed to the development.

Wednesday the council voted 10 to 1, with Councilmember Darryl Hurst abstaining and District 2 Metro Councilmember Chauna Banks in opposition. Since the start of the project Banks said she was not in favor of a new arena. Instead Banks said the River Center, a city controlled structure, deserved more attention. She also says the project was exclusive from other city stakeholders like Southern University. In rapid succession, she questioned developer Charles Landry on whether the arena’s proposal is legally sound.

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