re: What is the deal with the LSU lakes and the supposed work being done?

Yeah, I googled it too. They had funding in 2020 and the project got delayed (like nearly everything else in 2020).

As far as I can tell, it was never fully funded before that. I distinctly recall that it wasn’t funded, which was why it sat in limbo.

We have people in this thread saying they can’t believe it hasn’t happened sooner while others say it’s a massive waste of money. That’s the reality of politics.. and it’s why projects like this tend to take a long time to get taxpayer funding.

In fact, the first article you posted sums up the issue:

quote:

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The Baton Rouge Area Foundation has asked the city-parish parks department to take the lead role in pushing forward an ambitious plan to restore and beautify the LSU lakes, from conception to construction.

That leadership position would involve having BREC commit approximately $5 million toward the engineering plan and dredging two of the lakes the parks department owns in the six-lake system.

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quote:

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But in a prepared statement, McKnight calls attention to other outstanding needs the board must prioritize, like upgrades to the Baton Rouge Zoo, Greenwood Park and Memorial Stadium.

“We plan to have commissioners go through the entire report in order to give an informed response,” McKnight said. “We understand that it is our responsibility to maintain two of the lakes and fully expect to fulfill our responsibilities, but need to share the full report, communicate with other vested parties such as the city-parish and LSU, and plan a way to fund it before we can present a timeline for action.”

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Again, it didn’t move forward because nobody was ready to pay for it. Every article you posted highlights the same issue.

As for your comments about budgets increasing, that $25 million was a projected cost for dredging only. Your evidence that the cost has been steadily increasing is an article from 2018 that says the dredging cost is projected at $25 million, followed by an article from 2017 saying the total project cost was $80-100 million. Think that through.

In reality, the 2018 article ALSO says the total project cost is estimated at $80-100 million. So I’m not sure what you’re getting at.

Not that it matters, because they still don’t have funding lined up for the entire project anyway. If they don’t find another $30+ million, I guess we will be saying the project was cheaper than BRAF estimated in 2017?