The construction of a new football stadium at Tulane University in New Orleans could be facing a major hurdle thanks to new local legislation that would likely delay the groundbreaking of the facility, reports the New Orleans Times-Picayune.
Tulane University officials hoped to start construction on the new stadium by next January, but those plans were thrown into disarray by the news that local councilmember Susan Guidry proposed an Interim Zoning District (IZD). The measure would mean that Tulane and other colleges in the area would need to go through public hearings on any new buildings they construct during the period that the IZD is in effect.
Tulane's stadium project is in compliance with current construction regulations, but would likely need to be changed to meet the local council's new comprehensive zoning ordinance, which has not yet been enacted. The new "IZD" comes after pressure from locals to delay the project until public concerns are addressed.
Tulane has already responded to the news, saying that it would affect other universities in the area as well, including Xavier, Loyola and Delgado. Essentially, all construction on schools in the area would be stopped until the issues are ironed out.
"I think the bigger problem is that it is intended, I believe, to impose a public process on the stadium project, but it will have broader implications in that no project on any of our campuses can move forward until the City Planning Commission comes up with basically a recommendation on this interim zoning district," Tulane executive vice president for university relations and development Yvette Jones told the news source. "So we are all prohibited from moving forward."
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