BATON ROUGE — Tiger fans everywhere have long admired Mike the Tiger. He attracts more than 100,000 visitors each year and the Tiger Athletic Foundation is currently accepting donations and sponsors for the building of a new habitat for Mike.
The grassroots “I Like Mike” campaign began in the fall of 2001. The first phase of the campaign consisted of stationing Tiger trucks around the LSU campus on every home football game day. Donations were taken at each Tiger truck locations. Collection boxes were placed at all concession stands in Tiger Stadium and at the Pete Maravich Assembly Center during basketball season. A permanent collection box has been placed at Mike the Tiger’s present home.
Bricks are being sold for $100 each and will be engraved and used in the construction of Mike’s new home. Student organizations as well as TAF’s Collegiate Club have joined forces and are actively raising funds for the campaign. The $10.00 membership for the TAF Collegiate Club goes directly in the “I Like Mike” campaign. A committee headed by DeLaine Emmert and Bill Hulsey has been formed to seek sponsors for the project.
Torre Design Consortium, LTD has been hired as the architect for the design of Mike’s new habitat. The cost of the project is estimated to be around $2.5 million with construction starting very soon. Mike’s new home will be in the same area as his present home, but will be considerably larger.
This new home for Mike is an exciting venture and TAF hopes that Tiger fans everywhere will join in helping to construct the finest Tiger habitat in the United States.
Visit the new Mike the Tiger web site and view the architectural renderings of Mike’s new home. www.mikethetiger.com.