Click Here for a video tour of the Huey P. Long Fieldhouse
Click Here for a slide show of the Huey P. Long Fieldhouse destruction
 
Students who live or spend time near the west side of campus pass by it every day, unaware of the rapidly fading history within.
 
The Huey P. Long Fieldhouse, constructed in 1932, is one of the oldest buildings on campus. It was the original Student Union and featured a soda fountain, ballroom, barber shop, racquetball courts and post office, said Danielle Honeycutt, assistant director of The Foundation for Historical Louisiana.
 
The Fieldhouse pool, 180 feet long and 48 feet wide, was the longest pool in the country at the time of its completion.
 
The pool closed in 1999 because of maintenance issues and has been in a state of decline ever since, according to savehpl.org, a website dedicated to preserving the Fieldhouse pool facility.
 
Weeds, insects and animals have taken over the Fieldhouse, and a tree is growing in the pool.
 
Since the pool’s closure, the Fieldhouse has been repeatedly broken into and vandalized. The locker rooms and racquetball courts are covered in graffiti, ranging from a Pikachu to a pentagram the size of a bedroom.
 
“When I got here in 1995, they had things going on [at the pool] all the time,” said LSU Police Department Sgt. Antoine Busby, who was a student at the University and has been on the force since 2001.
 
Busby said the pool was open to the public often during his time as a student, and people from around Baton Rouge would swim there.
Restoration efforts have been under way for years but had a major setback after Hurricane Katrina, Honeycutt said.
 
Honeycutt said the University needs a feasibility plan, which would outline renovations and determine the cost.
 
The future of the Fieldhouse falls to the College of Education, said Executive Director of Institutional Advancement Bunnie Cannon.
 
“The [College of Education] has been given the go ahead to raise $250,000 to get a feasibility plan in place,” Cannon said.
 
Cannon said other renovation and construction projects have taken more fundraising precedence because of the amount of construction needed for the Fieldhouse and that work needs to be done on buildings still in use.
 
“It’s such a shame, because it was such a beautiful building,” Cannon said.
 
The project could be completed if a wealthy donor would be willing to finance it or if an independent group could raise the necessary funds, Cannon said.
 
“If there’s anyone who would step up and donate the money, LSU would step up, too,” Cannon said.
 
In June, the National Trust for Historic Preservation hosted its annual leadership training conference for the first time in Baton Rouge, Honeycutt said. The preservationists were split up into teams, and three teams were assigned the task of planning the renovation of the Fieldhouse.
 
The plans varied from turning the vacant racquetball courts into classrooms and labs to turning the whole vacant area of the building into a dormitory with the pool serving as the complex pool, Honeycutt said.
 
The Foundation for Historical Louisiana wants to stop the Fieldhouse from getting worse, Honeycutt said.
 
“Right now our biggest goal is to fundraise just to stabilize it,” Honeycutt said.
 
In a weak economy, the foundation needs student involvement for the renovation to be a reality, Honeycutt said.
 
“We all think [student involvement] is crucial because you guys are the ones who are on campus,” she said. “Young people have great ideas, imagination and energy.”
 
Although students may be curious about the pool and the Fieldhouse, Busby warns students against sneaking into the decrepit building.
 
“If someone is caught in here, unfortunately, they will be charged with criminal trespassing and be arrested,” Busby said.
 
 
 
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Contact Frederick Holl at [email protected]