Diplomats and staff attended the "Wall Demolition” event yesterday as Lafayette General Hospital unveiled its plans for a $75 million renovation to its Oil Center campus. Hospital officials "demolished” a blow-up picture of the current hospital, and unfurled an artist's sketch of the new exterior shell of the facility.

From there, Chamber representatives participated in ribbon cutting ceremonies for the bi-annual Louisiana Gulf Coast Oil Exposition at the Cajundome. An estimated 16,000 oil and gas industry attendees have converged on the city for the show. The Chamber is sharing a hospitality booth with the Lafayette Convention and Visitors Commission at the event.

Another ribbon cutting yesterday at the newly re-constructed Vieux Chenes public golf course attracted other Chamber diplomats.

Chamber Vice President of Governmental Affairs Bruce Conque was at Lafayette City Hall this afternoon researching the potential redistricting consequences of the 2010 federal census.