NEW ORLEANS — Years of advocacy and hard work culminated Monday for many in attendance at the groundbreaking ceremony of Raising Cane’s 9th Ward Stadium at LCMC Health Field.

The new stadium, located in the Desire neighborhood, will provide George Washington Carver High School and other students in the community with a home of their own for practices and games. It also will be available for graduations, community events and neighborhood gatherings. For many in attendance, however, the project was about much more than high school football.

“Today is more than a groundbreaking ceremony,” said State Representative Candace Newell. “It’s a statement that the 9th Ward matters. That the young people matter. And that this community deserves the same opportunity and investment as any other part of the city.”

The project is the result of years of planning and persistence from community leaders, elected officials and advocates who refused to let the vision disappear. Much of Monday’s praise centered on 9th Ward Stadium Inc. Chairman Arnie Fielkow, whose years-long effort to secure funding, partnerships and community support helped keep the project alive.

The stadium was first envisioned as part of broader efforts to invest in the 9th Ward following Hurricane Katrina and remained a priority for community advocates for more than a decade.

A partnership between Raising Cane’s, LCMC Health, NOLA Public Schools and government officials at the local, state and federal levels ultimately helped make the stadium a reality. Community members were also credited with keeping the vision alive through years of delays and fundraising efforts.

“We’re here because you all never let go of this vision,” said Mayor Helena Moreno. “You never let go of it. I’m not just talking about Arnie and the board members. You as a community, you never let go of it. You did it.”

Moreno credited Fielkow’s persistence for helping carry the project across the finish line, while several speakers noted that the stadium would not exist without his efforts to keep momentum alive through years of challenges and fundraising.

Raising Cane’s owner and founder Todd Graves said the project also offered an opportunity to give back to Louisiana communities that helped shape his life.

“Being born in New Orleans and raised in Baton Rouge, we should be, with the dollars we’re making, investing back in the community,” Graves said.

Graves, who credited many others for helping to bring the stadium to the 9th Ward, said through sports he learned valuable life lessons.

“Leadership, teamwork, coaching, what that’s like, getting knocked down, getting back up, which I think is the most important part,” Graves said. “Through sports, I learned a lot.”

Those lessons are what drove him to ensure students in the 9th Ward would have a stadium they can call their own.

“These kids here in the 9th Ward deserve a facility of their own,” Graves said. “They deserve having a stadium right here, not having to travel for all games, to actually have that sense of pride where they can learn and have the same playing field I did.”

Graves noted that he had access to facilities growing up and later realized that not every community had those same opportunities. Supporting the stadium, he said, was a chance to help provide those experiences for a new generation of students.

“I had that growing up, and honestly, I was so young I took it for granted,” Graves said. “As I got older, you start realizing other people don’t have that in their community.”

Although he helped ensure the stadium became a reality through donations from Raising Cane’s, Graves repeatedly placed credit for the project on the shoulders of others.

“The donors, that’s the easy part,” Graves said. “You write a check. They made it happen.”

Graves specifically praised Fielkow’s determination, saying the longtime community leader never stopped pursuing the vision in spite of the hurdles that arose throughout the process.

“I respect people that won’t ever give up,” Graves said. “Anything worthwhile is really hard to do.”

Congressman Troy Carter said the new stadium will serve as a transformational community asset.

“This stadium is not just concrete and turf,” Carter said. “It’s an opportunity with a mission.”

Carter commended Raising Cane’s and LCMC Health for not only writing checks to help the stadium become a reality, but for truly investing in the community.

“When Raising Cane’s and LCMC Health joined this effort, they came with checkbooks,” Carter said. “They came with love. They came with commitment. Not charity. Commitment.”

Carter, who helped secure a $3 million federal earmark for the project, described the stadium as a long-overdue investment in a community that has often watched resources flow to other parts of the city.

LCMC Health CEO Greg Feirn said Monday’s event is one the organization will remember as part of its continued efforts to improve the health of the community it serves.

“We believe that health extends far beyond the walls of our hospitals and clinics,” Feirn said. “It begins with access to safe spaces, opportunities for physical activity, strong schools and community connections.”

Feirn said the stadium will provide a place where young people can develop not only as athletes, but also as teammates and leaders.

NOLA Public Schools Superintendent Dr. Fateama Fulmore said students citywide should take pride in seeing the stadium become a reality.

“Students, Rams, this is for you and other children across our city because they deserve facilities like this to play and thrive,” Fulmore said.

Fulmore also highlighted George Washington Carver High School’s success in the classroom, noting that the school is already producing results academically and now will have a facility that matches those achievements.

Speakers at the event also stressed the importance of ensuring the economic benefits of the project remain in the community.

“So often we build things within our communities, but our communities don’t benefit from them,” Newell said.

Newell said one of her priorities throughout the process was ensuring 9th Ward residents and entrepreneurs have opportunities to benefit from the project’s success.

As Graves celebrated Monday’s event, he also said he hopes other business leaders and philanthropists are inspired to give back to their communities.

“If you donate to something and you feel good about it and you can see the results of it, it’s a donor’s job to tell everybody else what those dollars can do,” Graves said. “Talk about how good it makes you feel, but then how important it is to give back.”

“Projects like this are great examples of it,” he added. “Come out and see the games here. See this stuff that wouldn’t happen without donors. I think that inspires other people to do that.”

Ultimately, Graves said he hopes to one day see students benefit from the stadium and carry those lessons into their lives.

“I want the people in this community to have an amazing facility to go watch these games, watch their kids play, watch their cousins play, have championships and have great times,” Graves said. “I want them to have that pride in the community.”

“I want someday to meet some kids that have graduated from the program and gone on to do other things and say, ‘You know what? That stadium, I learned things on that field,’” Graves said. “That would make me proud.”

“As they move on, they’ve done great things in their life and they’re giving back to the community,” he added. “That’ll really make me feel good.”

For students and residents in the 9th Ward who have waited years for this moment, Monday marked the start of a new chapter.