Lakeshore Playground, the busiest youth sports hub on the East Bank of Jefferson Parish, is in the middle of a multi-million-dollar makeover that will strip out all of its grass fields and replace them with synthetic turf. Playground leaders expect the work to wrap up this fall, giving more than 2,000 registered young athletes a new home field free of the rain delays that have long plagued the Bucktown facility.
The project will replace 75,000 square feet of existing grass with turf, according to Fox 8, which reported that the new multi-use field will pack in a full-length 100-yard football field, two baseball fields, a soccer field and track lanes onto the same footprint. Located at 1125 Rosa Avenue in Metairie’s Bucktown neighborhood, Lakeshore Playground already houses four baseball fields, three batting cages, two tot lots, an indoor gymnasium and outdoor workout facilities, according to Jefferson Parish Parks & Recreation. While construction is underway, Lakeshore’s football teams and cheer squads are traveling to Johnny Bright to practice and play, per the same Fox 8 report.
Underground Wiring Paves the Way for Night Games
Beyond the surface swap, crews are laying eight miles of new underground electrical conduit as part of the overhaul, the station’s report notes. That conduit will power new field lighting, an upgraded scoreboard, and fans installed for the dugouts — upgrades aimed at making the park more comfortable and functional for the families who fill its stands most weekends.
Charles Cusimano, president of the Lakeshore Booster Club, is among the local leaders overseeing the project, and Jefferson Parish Councilman Hans Liljeberg has also been involved, per the same account. The parish council is set to receive state grants covering roughly $2.5 million of the project’s costs, funding that traces back to Act 776, a 2024 measure passed by the Louisiana State Legislature that directly appropriated $2,496,000 from the State General Fund to the Lakeshore Indians Booster Club for the playground’s improvement.
A State Senator’s Annual Playground Pick
According to Fox 8, Louisiana Senate President J. Cameron Henry Jr. has made a habit of selecting a playground each year for improvements, and Lakeshore’s turn arrived this cycle. Henry represents District 9, which covers portions of Metairie and the East Bank of Jefferson Parish, according to the Louisiana State Senate. The Lakeshore Indians Booster Club Inc., the nonprofit receiving the state grant, is a registered 501(c)(3) organization that manages youth athletic programs and runs concessions at the park, according to nonprofit filings compiled by ProPublica…