LAFAYETTE, La. (The Daily Advertiser) – For a couple of years the Cajundome’s iconic dome has been stained with dirt and mildew.

On Wednesday, its $1 million makeover began.

The work is being paid for with revenue from a bond sale secured with hotel/motel taxes.

“They’re going to clean it first, prime it and re-coat it,” Phil Ashurst, Cajundome operations director, said. “We plan to be done by Dec. 1, before the building opens.”

Brazos Urethane of Baton Rouge has the contract, he said.

The dome’s roof was re-coated in 2003, but the metal part of the roof has never been re-coated since it was erected in 1984, Ashurst said.

The Cajundome also is undergoing a $21 million interior renovation that has it shut down since May.

By the numbers

$1 million — cost to clean, prime and re-coat the roof123,000 square feet — size of the Cajundome roof70,000 square feet — size of the metal part of the Cajundome roof10 — number of people working on the roof project