4 Lafayette, Louisiana Parks Could Be Getting Renamed

Lafayette, La (KMDL) - Lafayette, Louisiana has more parks and recreation centers than you might realize.

According to lafayette.gov, there are 30 parks and 8 recreation centers in Lafayette Parish.

If a new proposed bill passes, four of those parks and recreation centers will be getting new names.

4 Lafayette Parks Could Be Renamed

Sen. Gerald Boudreaux is introducing four news bills that, if passed, will rename 4 parks and recreation centers in Lafayette, Louisiana.

Boudreaux, former director of Lafayette Parks and Recreation, is proposing to rename City Park, Brown Park, Moore Park and Heymann Park according to theadvocate.com.

According to Boudreaux, the renaming will not officially remove the current names of the parks, but new names will simply be added to it.

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The proposed bill aims to rename Lafayette's City Park Complex, which includes the Jay and Lionel Hebert Municipal Golf Course, the Domingue Recreation Center and Clark Field, in honor of Ernest Nabors Jr.

Ernest Nabors passed away in 2019 and was the head of the Lafayette Parks and Recreation Department, former principal of both Northside High and Lafayette High, as well as a former coach and teacher at Paul Breaux Middle.

The second Lafayette park proposed for a name change is Moore Park.

Boudreaux's bill proposes renaming Moore Park in honor of the late Deanna "Ma D" Bostick.

From theadvocate.com -

"Deanna 'Ma D' Bostick, founded the Lafayette Youth Soccer Association and the Louisiana Youth Soccer Association. She created the Lafayette association in the 1980s because she wanted her children to play soccer and there wasn't any access on the northside of the city where she lived."

The third park named in the proposed bills to be renamed is the Heymann Recreation Center complex.

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Located across from Paul Breaux Middle, the Heymann Recreation Center Complex is set to be renamed in honor of John "Cush" Leblanc "who was a recreation center supervisor for at least 25 years and who worked in parks and recreation for more than 40 years" according to theadvocate.com.

Lastly, the newly renovated Brown Memorial Park Complex will be renamed after Merlin Leger.

Leger volunteered for over 40 years as a Brown Park board member, and was a longtime coach at Brown Park as well.

Read more at theadvocate.com.