Lloyd G. Porter Memorial Stadium, shown during last year’s jamboree, will be shared again by New Iberia Senior High and Westgate.

New Iberia Senior High and Westgate High School will continue to share Lloyd G. Porter Memorial Stadium this season after bids for the stadium came in over budget for the Iberia Parish School Board.

Iberia Parish School Board maintenance manager Harry Lopez said the new stadiums will not be ready.

“This season they’ll share (Lloyd G. Porter Stadium) and the new stadiums are expected to be finished next year,” Lopez said in a phone interview Monday.

The board received four bids in early June for the stadium project, all of which were over the board’s $5.1 million budget. Minvielle Lumber Co. was the low bidder with a $6.9 million bid.

Lopez said the scope of the project will change to meet budget needs. The School Board maintenance manager said the reduction of the field house for both schools could be one of the major changes in the future.

Plans for stadiums at NISH and Westgate will be presented at the Sept. 3 board meeting for approval due to modifications made, Lopez said.

The stadium project was part of a $50 million bond issue to cover renovation and improvements at schools in the parish. New stadiums for NISH and Westgate were meant to alleviate parking issues as well as scheduling conflicts when both schools played a “home” game.

“There was a remote possibility that they (NISH and Westage) could have played the back half of the season in the new stadiums if we didn’t have to re-bid the project,” Iberia Parish Superintendent Dale Henderson said.

Henderson said both teams had not planned to play in the new stadiums this fall.

“We really had to scale down on what we were going to present to the School Board and that’s especially the field houses,” Henderson said.

NISH, Westgate and Loreauville High School will go without a synthetic turf this season as well. The artificial turf was set for installation this season, however the School Board rejected bids and re-advertised the project in a June board meeting. C&L Construction filed a lawsuit, claiming the only bid below the budget (made by GeoSurfaces) did not meet specifications.

“The turf projects are on bid and should be received on the Sept. 3 meeting. We will definitely not make this season as all three projects are concerned,” Lopez said.

NISH Athletic Director Robert Schlicher said the school’s football program is ready to start the season.

“There’s no disappointment. It’s a project that has a process to go through and we’re just being patient,” Schlicher said.

Attempts to contact Loreauville and Westgate athletic directors for comment were unsuccessful by deadline today.