Bulldog pride

JC Ceaser heard the call to come back home.
The Ville Platte native had earned a scholarship to Tulane University to pursue a Master of Sustainable Real Estate Development degree. It was during those studies that Ceaser was inspired to return back to the place of his childhood.
“It was during a course that I took where we talked about the revitalization of old corridors and old downtowns,” Ceaser said. “In particular, older buildings that lend itself to high ceilings and old beams. Things that people try to duplicate now that are really expensive to duplicate. From taking that program I knew that I would be coming back to Ville Platte.”
After graduating this past spring, Ceaser returned to his hometown with an eye on revitalizing old downtown properties. He found one at 107 East Main Street which he is bringing back to life as the Bulldog Premium Sports Lounge.
“A slew of people have been calling me or texting me and even stopping by during construction,” Ceaser said. “I think people are excited about this place.”
After graduating from Ville Platte High in 1992, Ceaser served in the United States Air Force for 10 years. During that time he obtained two college degrees, a bachelor’s degree from the University of Maryland and then a Master of Business Administration from William Carey University.
After leaving the armed services, Ceaser returned to Louisiana and served as an intern for former Louisiana Governor Kathleen Blanco while pursing a doctorate in Public Policy from Southern University in Baton Rouge. His time back home was short as he left his internship to take a position at the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) in Washington D.C.
Ceaser returned back to Louisiana, but not Ville Platte, to work for the Louisiana Recovery Authority (LRA) and for Katrina Cottages, which produces safe and affordable homes in the New Orleans area.
All those lessons learned while working with, and for, government entities Ceaser hopes to apply to his budding real estate ventures in Ville Platte.
“I have been gone from here since I was 17,” Ceaser said. “But I look at it as all the things that I have learned over the years I am able to bring back home and help revitalize it.”
The Bulldog’s location has been many things over the years, including a pawn shop, a beauty supply store and decades before that a gas station. At first, the location didn’t necessarily catch Ceasar’s eye but that soon changed.
“Truth be told I saw this location but I passed on this location initially,” Ceaser said. “The second time I passed this building and I thought to myself that it might work after all. It was right in the heart of the funky part of Main Street. We got a lot of different things going on here. This is the happening side of Main Street.”
Ceaser purchased the 3,360 square-foot building for $43,000 in June and in the past four months has invested nearly $25,000 into the property. Ceaser and his construction crew proceeded to take down the old drop ceilings, removed the peg board from the walls which revealed old thin wooden plank walls, took pieces of an old tin roof from another property and used that on the walls, and even repurposed the old tongue and groove planks on the outside as the new walls in the rest rooms.
After purchasing the building, Ceaser began scouring the online site Craigslist to buy sports and alcohol memorabilia to decorate his lounge, which also features 10 55-inch flat screen televisions and a 12x24 u-shaped bar.
The walls and ceilings are covered with hundred of albums and album sleeves. There are two pool tables, with Ville Platte High purple felt, and an old chalk menu board from New Orleans restaurant We’ve Got Soul and an old basketball scoreboard from a high school in the greater Houston area.
The place has also dozens of old trophies, sports and non-sports, from Ville Platte High School, an idea that Ceaser thought of late in the process.
“The first thing I thought of was it being just an eclectic sports bar,” Ceaser said. “The type of sports bar you would find in New Orleans or Bunkhead or Brooklyn. About half way through the process I thought about adding memorabilia. Then about three quarters of the way I came up with the name for it and that’s when I circled back about adding Ville Platte High memorabilia.”
The Bulldog Premium Sports Lounge, which has capacity of 256 and doesn’t allow anyone under the age of 25, held a soft opening this weekend. The establishment will be open seven days a week, will feature a staff of six bartenders, security and Ceaser is hoping to begin serving bar food (burgers, po-boys, chicken wings) by next year’s Super Bowl.
Ceaser believes his return home will help give Ville Platte High alumni and others from Evangeline Parish, an adult place to hang out and enjoy watching their favorite sports teams.
“I think we are going to have a nice adult crowd,” Ceaser said. “This is going to be an “old school” spot, a place for grown ups.”