Alumni Center
UL Lafayette’s Alumni Center feels like a home and there’s a good reason for that. It’s located in the former Heymann House, a residence designed by the late A. Hays Town. Town, a Crowley, Louisiana native, attended UL Lafayette from 1920 to 1922, when it was known as Southwestern Louisiana Institute. He earned a bachelor’s degree in architecture from Tulane University in 1926. He’s best known for his residential designs, which have influenced other Southern architects. He designed the home in 1936 for the late Maurice Heymann. A businessman, Heymann developed offices for the oil and gas industry in an area of the city that became the Oil Center, which helped Lafayette become an energy hub. His son, the late Herbert Heymann, sold the house to the UL Lafayette Alumni Association in 1991. Over the years, the property has been developed to include a complex of buildings.
In 1994, the Alumni Association renovated the house to include offices that now hold the university’s Advancement and Development divisions. In 1996, a multipurpose conference room was added. It is used for Alumni Board meetings and other functions. The U.S. senator John Breaux Wing was added in 1998. This suite of offices houses alumni staff. The Alumni Center grounds feature a natural pond, mature oak trees, magnolias and crape myrtles. A brick gazebo is a gathering spot and a 9/11 memorial there is a place for reflection. Throughout the year, alumni and campus events are held at the Alumni Center.