“If you build it, they will come.”

That must have been a prevalent thought in then-Lake Charles Mayor James Sudduth’s mind as he fought for the creation of an event center in his growing community.

Sudduth, who served from 1965 to 1973, held on to that stance for  nearly10 years, battling the ups and downs of permitting, fighting for funding, and convincing residents of the center’s need.

Sudduth told the American Press on Sept. 22, 1972 — the day the Lake Charles Civic Center was officially dedicated — that he and former Mayor Sidney Gray initially envisioned a $2-$3 million small center that would replace a dilapidated, little-used dock area on the eastern rim of the lake.

Their problem? The area they had their eyes on was underwater.

It took some doing, but Sudduth and construction committee chairman John Poche Jr. convinced the Department of Housing and Urban Development the project was eligible for urban renewal funds. Ultimately they were granted $1.4 million to “fill”64 acres of lake that the Civic Center (renamed the Lake Charles Event Center last year) sits on today.

Sandfilling operations began in December of 1967 and were completed in April 1968 with nearly 3 million cubic yards of sand pumped out. The groundbreaking was held on Nov. 5, 1969.

Construction on the $16 million, three-level, 83,000-square-feet complex took three years to complete.

But Sudduth’s thought  process proved right and six months ahead of its June 1972 opening, the Civic Center already had 77 events booked on its calendar. Then-Director of Promotions Alfred LeBlanc told the American Press on Jan. 1, 1972, that the first event at the newly opened Civic Center would be the Louisiana Lions State Convention on June 2-4 followed by the Magnolia Peace Officers Association meeting the following week.

Nearly 1,500 attended the Civic Center’s formal dedication in September of that year — including Gov. Edwin Edwards and Lt. Gov. James Fitzmorris.

Fitzmorris told the audience he saw the dedication of the center as a “dedication of a new spirit which will complement Lake Charles and Southwest Louisiana.”

“It is the kind of thing which can help the economy by tapping the sleeping giant, the tourist industry,” Fitzmorris said.

Sudduth told the crowd that planning and constructing the center was not always easy, but “the end product makes it all worthwhile.”

Sudduth admitted he wasn’t the most pleasant person to be around as he fought to bring his vision to fruition.

“I have cussed, fussed and fumed. I have pushed, shoved and pulled and I have been just plain hard to get along with at times — ask my wife and kids, ask my secretaries, ask Charles Ware (the mayor’s aid.)”

But his efforts worked.

Since the center’s opening, top names in entertainment — such as Elvis Presley, Garth Brooks, George Strait, Prince, Patti LaBelle, Jay Leno, Hootie and the Blowfish, Naomi Judd and B.B. King — have performed at the facility.

Today, the center is surrounded by a boardwalk that stretches the length of the lakefront, an outdoor concert venue, Millennium Park, Veteran’s Memorial Park, the September 11th Memorial and Bord du Lac Marina.

Fast forward to December 2024 and even more projects are being planned around the center — including a lakefront hotel, conference center and a new state-of-the-art amphitheater at the site of the now-demolished Capital One Tower.

Port Wonder is also expected to open in February and Lakefront Crying Eagle will follow in six to eight months.

Sudduth said Lake Charles must never lose sight of the main purpose behind its development as a convention city.

“The life blood of this facility must be the convention business if we are to help the economy of Lake Charles,” he said. “Conventions bring new money into the city.”