UL Lafayette buys 19.2 acres from Our Lady of Lourdes for new health sciences center
The University of Louisiana at Lafayette finalized a purchase of 19.2 acres from the Our Lady of Lourdes Regional Medical Center, which will house the university’s new health sciences campus.
The buy “further enables the fulfillment of the vision the University has for advancing health care in our region,” UL Lafayette President Joseph Savoie said in a news release.
“We want to increase the number of nursing and health sciences students we enroll and graduate; expand degree programs; enhance existing partnerships with health providers and build others; create collaborations with professional schools and health systems; and deepen relationships with biomedical and biopharmaceutical firms,” Savoie said.
“Acquiring this additional property puts those goals within reach, and we are fortunate to have a partner like Our Lady of Lourdes that recognizes the potential this acreage holds for the future of health care in our region and beyond.”
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The university spent around $9 million on the land, which includes 17.3 undeveloped acres at the corner of St. Landry and St. Julien streets, around one acre on St. Louis Street that has a parking garage, a .72-acre area at St. Landry and St. Julien streets with a parking lot, and a .196-acre tract at St. Landry and St. Thomas streets with an office building.
The land puts UL Lafayette closer to connecting the main campus with the University Research Park and the athletics complex, which was a goal outlined in the university’s 2012 Master Plan.
In the last year, UL Lafayette has added close to 25 acres to its campus. In addition to the 19.2-acre acquisition finalized this week, the university bought 5.834 acres at West St. Mary Boulevard and St. Landry Street in June 2022 from the Diocese of Lafayette. That tract contains medical office buildings and other facilities that were previously part of the Lourdes complex.
Together, the two acquisitions will be the center of UL Lafayette’s new health sciences campus. The university has started renovations on the St. Francis Building, and some upper-level College of Nursing & Health Sciences students are expected to take classes there beginning in the fall.
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Donna Landry, the chief operating officer for Our Lady of Lourdes, said in a release that the land “carries a legacy of service to the region that will continue under the University’s stewardship.”
“In 1949, Bishop Jeanmard called the new Lourdes hospital ‘a great blessing to fill the long felt need in Lafayette,’” Landry said. “Today, those sentiments continue to resonate knowing our legacy campus will be a place where generations of future nurses and other health professionals come to train. We are honored to be part of this blessing for Acadiana.”
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This article originally appeared on Lafayette Daily Advertiser: UL Lafayette buys 19.2 acres from Our Lady of Lourdes for $9 million
