The groundbreaking for the new University of Louisiana Monroe Foundation and Alumni
Affairs Center at 4400 Bon Aire will be at 10:30 a.m., Friday, Oct. 13.
To be built on the site of the former Anna Gray Noe Alumni Center on Bayou DeSiard,
the new facility will house the ULM Foundation and Alumni Affairs staff and will greet
friends and alumni of the university when they come back to campus. The two-story
building will be approximately 9,500 square feet with 6,748 square feet heated. It
is expected to open in the summer of 2018.
“We are grateful to the Foundation and Alumni Association for having the foresight
to begin planning several years ago for this beautiful facility,” said President Nick
J. Bruno. “I want to encourage everyone to join the Alumni Association and support
the Foundation. You are instrumental to the success of these projects and this new
facility is a perfect example of what people can accomplish together.”
In 2014, the ULM Foundation began discussing renovations to the Anna Gray Noe Alumni
Center, which was built in 1974. However, the estimated costs to renovate the existing
structure to meet building codes and needed functionality exceeded the cost of new
construction.
A fundraising campaign to build a new facility – at an estimated cost of $1.5 million
– began and requests for proposals were issued. In March Blue Heron Homes, L.L.C., was
selected as the contractor for the design-build project. Catalyst Design, L.L.C.,
is the architectural firm.
Upon the expected approval from the University of Louisiana System Board of Supervisors
later this month, the new facility will be named the Laird-Weems Center to honor the
contributions and achievements of Billy Laird and the late Don Weems to the university.
Laird, who served as executive director of the ULM Foundation for over 30 years and
Weems, alumni director for almost as many years, established the vision to engage
and serve alumni, friends and benefactors of ULM. The services they started decades
ago continue today to enrich the lives of many associated with ULM.
Financing for the new facility is through private donations and naming opportunities.
For each gift of at least $1,000, a brick will be placed with inscription selected
by the donor.
To make a gift to the project, either mail a check payable to the ULM Foundation to
3601 DeSiard St., Monroe, LA 71203 or go online to ulm.edu/4400bonaireproject .
Published Oct. 11, 2017
