Talk about lakefront development has been just that — talk — as far back as the ‘70s. Now there’s action.

This year, the parking garage that hasn’t been used since Hurricane Rita destroyed Harrah’s in 2005, was revamped. Port Wonder, which houses the Children’s Museum of Southwest Louisiana and the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries Nature and Science Center, is late in opening, but will open in February. Crying Eagle on the Lake has begun construction. The gators have been returned to their restyled park.

On Dec. 6, 2024, Lake Charles Mayor Nic Hunter and partners from Renew Lake Charles announced plans to further develop the downtown and lakefront area with a hotel, conference and convention center and new, larger, state-of-the-art amphitheater.

The hotel will be a 154-room Hilton Garden Inn. It will be built on Event Center property that the city of Lake Charles will continue to own and maintain.

The investor in the hotel is Renew Lake Charles. Investors were initially interested in purchasing the Hertz property/Capital One Tower and repairing it to create a hotel in part of the space but those plans were ultimately scrapped.

The city will instead build a meetings and convention center space.

A new, larger, state-of-the-art amphitheater will be built by the city on property the city will purchase from Hertz where the Capital One Tower was demolished. The property purchase includes the downtown parking garage.