BATON ROUGE - The LSU arena has gotten a lot of attention, and now so has the possible name that could go on the building. The estimated $400 million venture has support from Our Lady of the Lake.

E.J. Kuiper, President and CEO of Franciscan Missionaries of Our Lady Health System, spoke highly of the proposal. 

“We're very excited about the arena project,” Kuiper said. “When our LSU partners called us and asked us if we wanted to be part of it, we thought about it for all of two seconds and said absolutely.”

A yes could lead to Our Lady of the Lake getting the naming rights to the site. 

Kuiper says the idea behind the arena is in line with the FMOL ideals to create healthier, thriving communities, and the system plans to build other facilities around the arena.

“Our Lady of the Lake is planning to build a state-of-the-art sports medicine institute right next to the arena, and it's going to include orthopedics, sports medicine, and sports performance,” he said. 

Kuiper added that the arena could grow and benefit other parts of Baton Rouge, like bringing in artists for concerts.

“I think the arena project is going to bring concerts, of course, it's going to upgrade our sports facility. It's going to be great for the LSU men's and women's basketball teams,” he said.

“This is a once-in-a-generation opportunity to transform this community,” Kuiper said.