In this community, fiction and fact interlace and overlap like the lines of the graffiti behind Chimes Textbook Exchange. Live music from Ichabod’s and Chelsea’s knife through the air and meet at Blockbuster Video.
The locals tell stories of a guy whose ear was ripped off during a fight, and reminisce about seeing the band REM at the Bayou back in ’82, “before they got big.”
Even the bums are known by their first names.
It is a complicated picture of a puzzle, said Clarke Cadzow, owner of Highland Coffees.
This area has assimilated curbside trash and the cleanest commercialism and survived.
Survival has not always meant success.
All the windows at the old Boyd’s clothing store are broken, and the Claire’s at the corner of Highland Road and Chimes Street sits vacant. National chains and independent retailers alike have suffered from the whims of the community, and the area has been a revolving door of businesses.
But Highland Coffees, Ichabod’s, Slinky’s and My Tiger Lily run successful businesses on this street; in the adjacent area, Louie’s Cafe, Inga’s, Chelsea’s, Serrano’s, Raising Cane’s and The Chimes have debunked the theory that independent retailers will fail.     
With new apartments being built nearby and Chancellor Mark Emmert’s push for revitalization, property and business owners sense the street may finally put its sometimes-sordid past behind and live up to its immense potential.
Escaping the image of the past
Scott Frye and his friend Eric Broussard opened Ichabod’s more than a year ago. Frye attended LSU from 1994 to 1996 and spent a lot of time on Chimes Street in those years. In the early 1990s, Chimes Street was “a mini-Bourbon street,” with people lined up and down the street, Frye said.
Things got really dirty and dangerous, Frye said. There was a shooting, some people got knifed, fights broke out every night, drugs were rampant, and the cops were stationed down the street to keep the peace, he said.
“It quit being a fun place to hang out,” Frye said.
Van Cox, a landscape architecture professor who attended LSU from 1967 to 1972, said Chimes Street was never a savory-looking place.
“I think it’s the image people have of it,” Cox said. “When there’s a shooting or a robbery, it reinforces that negative image.”
Cadzow said success is more complicated than a matter of poor lighting. Several factors play a role in determining the success of a business community.
First, the demographics of the area are not good, he said. The University is on one side, but the river is to the west and the University lakes are to the east. Opposite the University, the neighborhoods are mostly low-income housing.
A national tenant will look in all directions, Cadzow said. A business has to look at other factors affecting the community because the University does not operate 365 days a year.
Also hindering the growth of Chimes Street is congested traffic and limited parking, he said. The area is not convenient for most of the Baton Rouge population and thus must rely primarily on the student population for business.
The problem is compounded by the fact that the University is split on two sides, he said. It is hard to determine what the focal point is when so much of the student population lives on the other side of campus.
Ben Johnson, a realtor for CJ Brown, said he was surprised there was vacant space on Chimes Street.
CJ Brown leased the old Hudson Bay building to Eutopia, an upscale hair salon, last year.
“We leased our buildings out in about two seconds,” Johnson said.
He said two factors could result in vacant property. First, a building like Boyd’s could require so much renovation that it takes time to rent it out.
Also, a national tenant like Claire’s still may pay rent on a building even though it does not occupy that space anymore, Johnson said.
From the landlord’s perspective, at least someone is paying the rent, Cadzow said. It is not the landlord’s fault if a business does not make it.
Each property has its own story, Cadzow said.
Cox said many businesses have come and gone. Clothing stores, bookstores and bars have moved in and out.
“I just think the right chemistry hasn’t come around,” Cox said.
Chasing the image of the future
Outside Louie’s Cafe on a Wednesday night, the dust begins to settle from the demolition of abandoned space across the street. The Chimes Street/State Street community is about to experience its biggest step toward revitalization.
Several indicators are pointing Chimes Street into a brighter future.
The building that housed the Bayou will be reopened as a Jamaican-style restaurant, said property owner Pete Losavio.
Losavio, whose family has owned the property on and off for around 100 years, said he wanted somebody responsible in that space. It took 90 days after the Bayou burned for someone to lease it out again.
The restaurant is scheduled to open this month, the restaurant’s Web site, www.cafereggae.com — states.
Losavio said the University administration has been involved in improving the sidewalks and donated trees and grates for sidewalk beautification at the new restaurant.
Stanley Cheatham, property owner of the Boyd’s building, said he is working with the architecture department on designs for a new business.
Two fifth-year architecture students, Laura Morris and Ashley Lechtenberg, are planning a design for a bakery interested in establishing a business in that building.
“Our main goal is to enhance that community,” Morris said.
They hope to complete the plans by the end of the semester and have construction completed within a few months.
“We’re going to try to improve the appearance and safety of the building,” Cheatham said.
The biggest addition to the Chimes Street/State Street landscape is the apartments being built by construction company First Worthing.
There is a lot of abandoned space being torn down and being replaced with positive business, Cadzow said.
Condominiums are going up behind Mr. Gatti’s, upscale apartments are being built behind Co-op Bookstore and the West Campus Apartments will be completed by the fall.
Cadzow said anytime you replace a negative business with a positive one, the community improves. A neighborhood can change very quickly.
We are about to take our biggest step forward, he said.
Cadzow has operated Highland Coffees since 1989, and he said the community only has improved during that time.
Sometimes it is two steps forward and one step back, but it always has been improving, he said.
The corner of Highland Road and Chimes Street was virtually empty before they moved in, he said. Then Foot Locker moved in, then the Gap. In 1998, Serrano’s renovated the abandoned space next to the Varsity theater.
People tend to forget the improvements, Cadzow said.
“There is definitely a renaissance in the works,” Jimmy Wetherford, owner of Louie’s Cafe since 1978. “I think it’s fantastic.”
Wetherford, who operated the Bayou in 1982 and booked REM on their first tour, said some people always will fear change, but the character of the street will not be affected.
“Character comes from people,” Wetherford said.
Cox said the professors at LSU enjoy the businesses on Chimes street.
“It’s not as bad as it looks,” Cox said.
Wetherford said the encouragement from the chancellor has been immensely helpful.
“The property owners are getting organized,” Wetherford said. “The energy is coming back.”