For years an abandoned, graffiti-ridden building across from theBaton Rouge beach has stood out among Stanford Avenue’s quainthomes, giant oaks and famous lakes.
But building owner, Mike Wampold, with encouragement fromUniversity officials, decided to give the worn-out structure amakeover.
Now the former grocery store, bar and car dealership is painteddeep purple and pays tribute to the National Championship footballteam.
Lionel Cable of Cable Signs painted the lettering and said hehopes to finish the graphics by the end of this week.
Cable said he is going to paint graphics of the Universityathletics logo and a football helmet.
Wampold, who is CEO of Wampold Companies, a real estatedevelopment and management group, and also a TAF board member, saidhe was not ready to tear down the building, but wanted to dosomething to improve its image.
“It was not in the top ten most beautiful buildings in BatonRouge,” Wampold said. “It was kind of an eyesore.”
Wampold said the area is heavily trafficked during sportingevents, so he thought the artwork would go along nicely with thesuccessful sports year.
“We see it as a good thing and something that’s fun,” Wampoldsaid.
Although the building used to be home to several commercialbusinesses, the land now is zoned only for residentialdevelopment.
“It used to be a really popular college bar called the SpeakEasy,” Wampold said.
Wampold also said the building is rumored to be the place whereLSU football hero and Heisman Trophy winner Billy Cannon printedhis counterfeit $100 bills.
Wampold said his company is planning to build new, higher-pricedcondominiums on the land next year.
“We are going to build mid-rise and low-rise condos notnecessarily geared toward students,” Wampold said.
Van Decoteau, resident manager of One Lakeshore Placeapartments, said he likes the new paint job and also looks forwardto the new condos.
“It certainly makes the building look better than it hadpreviously,” Decoteau said. “And it’s a great way to showappreciation for the team.”
Decoteau said if he lived in the neighborhood, he would haveliked to see the building go back to commercial use.
“I think it would be great for the area if they re-vamped it andturned it into a night spot,” Decoteau said.