INDReporter

AcA seeking maintenance funds in LCG budget

by Walter Pierce

The arts center’s first phase is roughly 12 years old; the newer part of the facility is pulling up on six.

Acadiana Center for the Arts
Photo by Robin May

The Acadiana Center for the Arts is seeking $50,000 in line-item funding in the city-parish budget that will be finalized Thursday night to repair and/or replace parts of its cooling system.

“The older part of AcA, the Phase One part, is going on 12 years of age and the rest of AcA is going on six years, so we’re starting to see the first parts of the A/C system needing to be fixed and replaced,” says AcA Executive Director Gerd Wuestemann. “It’s things like this that keep popping up, so we’re hopeful that the council understands that a well-trafficked facility like the AcA in this community needs some TLC over time, and we’re already raising $1.2 million per year to offer all the services to the community that we do and to pay staff and upkeep for this amazing facility. But we’re also constantly bumping up against the end of our resources when it comes to this.”

The funding request was added to tonight’s budget hearing by Councilmen Don Bertrand and Kevin Naquin. The latter is also seeking $50,000 for Festivals Acadiens et Creoles.

And The Advocate reports that Councilman Kenneth Boudreaux is seeking an additional $1 million in funding for a bridge-crosswalk over Evangeline Thruway and other infrastructure repairs and upgrades in his north Lafayette district.