A campus tour for media members on Thursday showed substantial damage from Hurricane Gustav to several campus buildings.Paul Favaloro, director of facility resources, and university spokeswoman Kristine Calongne gave The Daily Reveille staff its first look at damage sustained to the University Relations building, the new School of Music building and the Pentagon dining hall.The tour also provided a second glimpse into conditions at Tiger Stadium and the University Student Recreational Center. Favaloro said his primary concerns are patching roof damage, removing water puddles and ensuring students’ safety in classroom buildings.”Every building on campus was touched in some way,” he said. “About 11 buildings have major problems.”Favaloro said there were “no major problems” with large classrooms.The new School of Music building was likely the hardest-hit academic building on campus.”When you walk inside, you see that we’ve taken all the ceiling tiles out because of water damage,” Favaloro said. “Some places in this building had two to four inches of water on the floor.”Daily Reveille staffers could not enter the building because of the de-humidification process occurring, but a view from the outside showed only the metal framework for the ceiling.The Pentagon Dining Hall, already closed for scheduled renovations, sustained significant roof damage from fallen pine trees.A pine tree crashed into a window of the University Relations building on Lakeshore Drive, and another window was apparently blown out by a wind gust. Several trash cans were used to collect water that entered from holes in the roof, Calongne said.”There was a steady stream of water coming in in some rooms,” she said.The UREC sustained substantial damage to the roof and basketball courts, which are now covered in water.UREC Director Tamara Jarrett said she has received an outpouring of support from Southeastern Conference schools, including Florida, Georgia, Kentucky and Alabama.Jarrett plans to convert part of the tennis courts into outdoor basketball courts.”We’re going to have to be creative about how we serve the campus,” Jarrett said.She said the UREC plans to visit residential halls and teach wellness programs or exercise classes. Jarrett also wants to video tape and broadcast exercise classes.Numerous LSU athletic facilities incurred damage, including Tiger Stadium, the LSU Natatorium, the LSU Soccer Complex and the Carl Maddox Fieldhouse.
—-Contact Amy Brittain at [email protected].