It is about 4:30 p.m., and the campus is alive with the sound of traffic jams and crowded sidewalks of people anxious to go home.
Port Allen resident Shelley Brignac is on campus after dropping off her daughter at the Music and Dramatic Arts building for music lessons.
To pass the time, she pushes her infant son in his stroller down to the Greek Theatre — an old, outdoor auditorium that seems forgotten by the University and aged by many years of neglect.
The air is mild and bursts of wind creep through the wooded area behind the theatre, commonly called the Enchanted Forest. The wind rustles the moss in trees shading the Greek Theatre.
Brignac pushes her son’s stroller down to the pit of the theatre right below the stage and lets her son wander around as dead leaves shuffle across the concrete platform.
Brignac says she brought her son to play in the Greek Theatre because it is a safe place for him to run around away from the afternoon campus traffic.
But her eyes never leave him as he runs past unsteady, broken benches with rusted steel rods protruding out the sides.
Nevertheless, she smiles at this historic landmark.
“I’ve spent many happy times here,” she sighs.
Brignac attended the University in the late 1970s and fondly remembers joining other students in the Greek Theatre to watch movies on summer nights. She vaguely recalls watching Paul Newman in the hockey movie, “Slap Shot,” which was projected onto a screen onstage.
“My first husband proposed to me here,” she announces bluntly, pointing to an area of the theatre at the top near a large Saga palm. “So I guess you can say this place has a lot of history for me.”
A landmark in need of repairs
History is one thing the Greek Theatre has a lot of.
Today, the Greek Theatre, nearly 80 years old, seems to students an empty space as ruined as the Greek architecture it was styled after — seldom used except by those needing a quiet place to read or think.
“We are aware of the fact that it needs repairs,” said Director of Facility Development Bill Eskew. “It is on the list of projects we want to undertake.”
Eskew said the University considers the theatre a historic site, along with the Parade Ground, the Enchanted Forest and the Indian Mounds.
Restoring the Greek Theatre is an important part of the “Enhancing the Core” project, which seeks to redesign and upgrade the center of campus, Eskew said.
Jerry Baudin, vice chancellor of Finance and Administrative Services, said although the administration has discussed plans to restore the theatre, they have not set a specific date for restoration.
“We do recognize that it needs to be restored,” Baudin said. “This is a project everyone is interested in doing.”
However, there are other projects needing immediate attention, such as general campus repairs. The limited amount of funding keeps the administration from pursuing any restoration to the theatre, Baudin said.
“[The theatre] is part of the original fabric of campus,” Eskew said. “There is a history and a legacy associated with it.”
The birth of the Greek Theatre
In April 1926, a State Times Morning Advocate article first revealed information about the completion of the Greek Theatre.
The article stated the construction was rushed so the theatre could be used for the University’s dedication.
The University had just opened to the public after being moved from its original location in Pineville, LA, and the theatre was to “serve as a gathering place for outdoor functions,” the article said.
The article went on to say the theatre’s capacity of 3,200 people could “accommodate all the students at one time.”
In the years that followed, pep rallies, religious services and commencement ceremonies took place in the Greek Theatre, which was built at a cost of $43,000.
According to a 1946 Reveille article, the University added landscaped gardens in 1932 behind the theatre to remedy a sunken grotto that had become a “quagmire infested with snakes, frogs and mosquitoes.”
The gardens included a rectangular reflecting pool stretching behind the stage. At the far end of the pool stood a large statue of Hernando DeSoto facing the theatre.
The article said the area was a special place for students because of its breathtaking scenery and a beautiful backdrop for plays conducted on the Greek Theatre stage.
LSU’s Building Information Guide states ROTC cadets threw their officers into the pool after the last parade of the year as a tradition.
Unfortunately, the pool presented a problem for campus workers to clean and began to present a danger to students, according to a June 1960 Reveille article.
Under a headline of “DeSoto, Pool Bid Adieu to Each Other and You,” the article said the pool had to be filled in, and the University made plans to re-landscape the area.
One of the biggest mysteries is what happened to the DeSoto statue.
The Reveille article claims it was crushed by workers, and the remains were dropped into the Mississippi River.
The Building Information Guide cited this as a possible conclusion but also said the statue could have been tipped over into the pool before it was filled in.
However, Eskew said he heard pieces of the statue were chopped up and placed along the bank of the river with other concrete rocks to prevent erosion.
Today, all that remains are two lines of oak trees creating an alley where the reflecting pool and statue once stood.
An empty stage
Over the years, the theatre was used less and less for public events. Commencement ceremonies were moved indoors because of unfavorable weather.
Because the theatre offered no sound or lighting effects, The Shaver Theatre in the M&DA Building provided a better outlet for performances.
Adam Miller, director of marketing and public relations for the Theatre Department, said the theatre still is used by productions as a backdrop for publicity photos.
Pass the Hat Theater also uses the space for free Shakespeare plays in the summer, Miller said.
“I hope it is a resource we can utilize in the future,” Miller said. “We would like to see it restored to its original brilliance.”
The Music School used the Greek Theatre in past musical performances but no longer uses the space.
“One of the reasons it’s not being used by the Music School is because of the condition it’s in,” said Cary Byrd, coordinator of development for the Music School. “There are issues of safety [in having performances at the theatre].”
Byrd said a form of sound reinforcement, such as a theatre shell, would benefit future musical performances in the Greek Theatre.
However, Eskew said the only potential plans for the Greek Theatre are to restore it to its original form and a possible addition of a new entrance plaza.
A quiet space for students
Today, the Greek Theatre has taken on a role similar to the Quad or the Parade Ground in that its use is casual.
Every now and then, a student organization will use the theatre as a meeting place, but mostly students use it as they please.
Graduate student Joe Bruno often visits the Greek Theatre.
Bruno, a member of the campus ministry, said he comes to the theatre to pray and meditate.
He likes the area because it is peaceful and relaxing beneath the trees and away from Dalrymple Drive.
Business marketing freshman Mike Young sat in the theatre this week studying his economics book.
Young said he often retreats to the theatre to study. It is an ideal area because it is close to his dorm, and he loves being outdoors, he said.
Brignac’s story continues
Another gust of wind rolls through the Greek Theatre, and the cars continue their slow train across Dalrymple.
Shelley Brignac calls her son from his mischievous playing and puts him back in his stroller. Her daughter’s music lessons are almost over.
“I really hope they start using this place more,” she smiles as she begins pushing the stroller out of the theatre. “It really is a great place.”