The Plaza was a multi-level night club located at 4509 Johnston Street in Lafayette. It was Lafayette's entertainment mecca between 1995 and 2010. Concerts, galas, balls, extravagant fundraisers which brought out Lafayette's well dressed elite and Lafayette's top club DJs on any given night made The Plaza known as the desired spot for a good time along the gulf coast between Houston and New Orleans. Lafayette and Acadiana have not seen the likes since it's closing.

The Plaza
Shannon Wilkerson
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The Plaza boasted a huge dance floor, multi-levels that moved thousands of people not only horizontally but vertically as well. Several bars made it easy to get a drink and the sound system rivaled that of famed Studio 54 in New York. The light show, at the time, was one of the most elaborate and technically advanced in the state of Louisiana. The original theater design called for high ceilings which remained when the old Plaza Theater was turned into a night club in 1995. As in the original theater design, a portion of the walls remained draped in fabric. The Plaza was fabulous.

The Plaza Crowd
Shannon Wilkerson
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Today The Plaza is hardly recognizable. The only remnants of its former glory are two of the huge round air ducts that cooled part of the lower dance floor, part of the ductwork in the entry area and a red wall in the main club that one passed headed to the second floor and VIP room. The concrete floor has been completely removed and is now dirt.

Shannon Wilkerson, owner of The Plaza 1995-2009, talks about the night legendary Prince played the super-club after his concert at the Cajundome in 1997.

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