“The only option is to make it work.” District 6 Iberia Parish Council representative Natalie Broussard was on the mark when offering that opinion about financial problems that have been experienced, and well publicized at Cajun RVera along with less well known but significant financial problems for the SugArena.

A story in Friday’s Daily Iberian offered a good overview of the financial situation affecting the Acadiana Fairgrounds Commission which is charged with overseeing these parish-owned facilities.

The SugArena financial issues surfaced because it had to cancel an event originally scheduled for last weekend when SugArena couldn’t come up with $800 to cover some operating expenses for the event, like purchasing an inventory of concessions to sell. In the past the event has been a moneymaker so SugArena lost the chance to generate some much needed profit.

Another event scheduled for this weekend was in danger of being cancelled until ARC got last minute funding from the parish.

AFC Commissioner Mike Lopresto in Friday’s article said the SugArena, “… has been hemorrhaging money” and the facility is, “… probably $100,000 in the red for the year right now.”

Locals already know the parish has provided funds to offset expenses at the RVera and continues to cover $400,000 yearly bond payments.

Iberia Parish President Larry Richard said they couldn’t keep operating the fairgrounds this way. “We are not trying to shut down the Acadiana Faigrounds. We are just trying to stop the fiscal bleeding.” He also said no other events booked are in jeopardy.

There is consideration that the parish Recreation and Parks Dept. could take over some or all of the fairgrounds operations and perhaps save some money on things like maintenance expenses or perhaps even pay part of the RVera bond payments out of its budget.

Councilwoman Broussard points out the SugArena has a loyal group of community supporters who are working hard to keep the facility operating.

She says, and it sounds like an idea worth discussing, the parish should invest in the services of a qualified consultant to come up with a plan to better operate both Cajun RVera and SugArena. “Let’s spend a little bit of money. Let’s revamp the Commission. Let’s revamp the entire staff. Selling the RVera is not an option…The only option is to make it work.”

Ms. Broussard is right. The parish has too much invested in the SugArena and RVera to let them fail. If a qualified expert can be identified, it’d seem a prudent investment to see if he or she could offer a plan to put these parish-owned facilities on a path to financial stability.

Indeed the only option is to make these facilities work for parish taxpayers the way they were intended.

WILL CHAPMAN

PUBLISHER