New LSU Basketball Arena’s Future In Doubt, LSU President Says

By PIPER HUTCHINSON, Louisiana Illuminator

Special To The Tiger Rag

The LSU economic development district that is at the center of a lawsuit has begun receiving sales tax revenue, but it is unclear if that money will be used to fund a new LSU athletic arena as planned, LSU president Wade Rousse said Monday at the Baton Rouge Press Club. 

None of the funds have been spent as of yet, Rousse said. 

The tax is the subject of a lawsuit filed in state court in December that alleges the tax was illegally approved without voter approval. The suit, filed by attorney William Most on behalf of former East Baton Rouge councilman Darrel Glasper, alleges the districts were structured to raise sales and hotel occupancy taxes from businesses near LSU. But without allowing voters to approve or reject the taxes. The boundaries were drawn to include zero residents. 

Though much of the discussion around the district and the tax have been about a proposed arena to replace LSU’s aging basketball and other sports arena, the Pete Maravich Assembly Center that opened in 1972, Rousse said he wouldn’t characterize the tax as an arena-specific tax. 

Rousse said the funds may also be spent on other infrastructure projects, including fixing potholes on campus. 

“Where it’s going to be spent kind of depends on if we end up getting an arena or not,” Rousse said. “We’re going to start a real strategy in order to try to prioritize where that needs to be done and where it needs to be spent.” 

Rousse said LSU is looking for additional funding to build the new arena. He said he is not in favor of taking money away from the academic side of the university to fund the arena, including placing the building project above academic buildings on the university’s capital outlay priority list, which the Legislature uses to determine which building projects to fund. 

At the same time, Rousse said he believes state funds will be needed to support the project. Rousse said he was unsure what the source of those funds would be, but he floated the idea of funding from Louisiana Economic Development, a state agency dedicated to improving the state’s economy. 

LSU’s new library project is remaining in the university’s capital outlay priority list, however. The project is expected to receive tens of millions of dollars in the state construction budget. Rousse said the university is also courting private donors to fund its construction.