Ambassador Group will improve downtown Lafayette, says CEO | Business

Officials in downtown Lafayette want to partner with an agency that would collect trash, maintain landscaped areas and act as tour guides for visitors.

Kevin Blanchard, CEO of the Downtown Development Authority, presented the idea for an ambassador program during Thursday’s lunch and learn, which would involve contracting with an outside agency that hires staff to handle these and many other tasks, including homeless outreach, volunteer engagement and pressure washing. areas of the city center.

The ambassador program, Blanchard noted, will cost $350,000 a year for seven employees, including two executives. The territory is currently served by two and a half employees at a cost of $70,000, with $50,000 coming from the Lafayette Consolidated Government and the remainder from the DDA.

The staff serves an area that saw 2.3 million visitors in the past 12 months, with just under half coming from outside Lafayette Parish, Blanchard said. The area is also home to a growing number of homes and shops, as well as 37 restaurants.

“This is the highest number we can find in our records that we have been able to preserve,” he said. “We now have a very strong office and retail market and a growing housing market. We don’t want to fall into the trap of being one of those places where it’s really nice to visit, but you wouldn’t want to live there.”

The DDA board will soon issue a request for proposals from companies, one of which is expected to be Louisville-based Block By Block, which operates in downtown, parks and college campuses across the country.

Officials want to conclude a contract by mid-2025. Funding for the first phase will come from the Downtown Economic Development District, one of five EDDs created five years ago and funded by a one-cent sales tax.

The fund, which currently stands at just over $2 million, raises about $600,000 a year, Blanchard said.

Employees, he said, will also help with special events such as the International Festival and Mardi Gras, hospitality and tourism, volunteering for events such as community-wide cleanup days and outreach to the area’s homeless population.

“This is by far the hardest thing on this list,” he said. “This is not an easy decision. This is something that will never improve until we all get involved and figure out what our role is.”

Downtown officials also have put forward a $500,000 proposal to renovate the bathrooms at the bottom of the Vermilion Street parking garage. Those restrooms, Blanchard noted, have been closed for about 10 years, and public restrooms are now required following the recent opening of the playground at Sans Souci Park.

If the toilets return to service, ambassador staff will be able to clean them up to five times a day.

“We just raised funds for this beautiful, affordable children’s park—a million dollars raised privately—and there’s nowhere for moms and dads to take their kids to the potty,” Blanchard said. “This is a problem. This is a real world problem.”