GeorgeReymond

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Our Lady of the Lake plans to build a $100 million sports medicine institute on LSU’s campus—but only if LSU’s proposed $428 million arena project comes to fruition.

That’s according to E.J. Kuiper, president and CEO of the Franciscan Missionaries of Our Lady Health System, who tells Daily Report that the facility will be a “one-stop shop” for athletes of all stripes, offering athletic training, imaging, orthopedics, physical therapy, education and research opportunities for LSU students and faculty and more.

Kuiper says the proposed facility is in part a response to a common frustration in the local athletic community.

“We’ve heard quite a bit in the community that while all of these services are available, it’s kind of fragmented,” Kuiper says. “You have to go to three or four different places to seek these services. This will really be a center of excellence, a destination point and a one-stop shop. You’ll be able to get all of that help at the sports medicine institute.”

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The project, however, is contingent on LSU moving forward with its arena plans. The facility would be built adjacent to LSU’s arena on the LSU Golf Course site.

“We believe LSU’s campus is the ideal location for it,” Kuiper says. “You could theoretically put it somewhere else in town, but you’d lose some of the symbiotic nature of the building because you have Tiger Stadium there, you’re going to have the new arena there, you have all of these sports facilities there. We believe it’s the optimal geographic location.”

As for financing, Kuiper says his organization will shoulder much of the cost but does expect some help on the fundraising side.

“We’ll fund a substantial portion of it,” he says, “but I know the LSU Foundation is looking at fundraising opportunities. … I believe this one will be a relatively easy one to raise funds for because it’s so exciting.”

According to Kuiper, the plan is to time construction so the facility opens alongside LSU’s arena in the fall of 2029. It’s worth noting that OLOL is also in talks to pay up to $50 million for 10-year naming rights to the arena.

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