The John M. Parker Agricultural Center currently houses livestock and small campus events, but it was once home to an LSU hero and some of the University’s biggest campus events.
The coliseum has a rich history in its name, structure and events.
John Milliken Parker was sworn in as governor of Louisiana in May 1920. At that time the University was in the process of moving from its downtown campus to the current campus location and quickly expanding.
In Thomas Ruffin’s book “Under Stately Oaks,” he said Parker’s agenda to build the University into a greater agricultural college earned him the nickname “The Father of the Modern LSU.”
Parker proposed a severance tax on all unrefined natural resources that were taken out of the state for processing. He planned for a significant portion of that money to go to the University.
After the tax passed in the legislature, the University received about $3.5 million over a period of several years.
The University used some of the money to purchase about 930 acres of land adjoining the “new” campus, a large portion of which is home to the School of Agriculture.
Years after the University purchased the land, the Agricultural Center was constructed during a $10 million dollar University building campaign.
Because of his push to improve the University’s agricultural college, the University named the agricultural center after Parker.
The Livestock Show Office Web site says the Ag Center, which seats about 6,750 people, was completed in 1937 for about $1.3 million.
At the time of its completion, the Ag Center was 6 feet larger than Madison Square Garden, making it the biggest coliseum in the United States, said Livestock Show Office Director Roxanne Landry.
Over the years, the coliseum has been used for a wide variety of activities including commencement ceremonies, sporting events, tractor pulls and livestock shows.
The Ag Center was home to the Tiger basketball team and one of its most memorable players, Pete Maravich, for about 30 years.
In Chris Warner’s book “SEC Basketball History and Tradition,” he said hundreds of fans flooded the Ag Center between 1967 and 1970 to watch “Pistol Pete.”
The crowds filled the “Cow Palace” to watch Maravich, who Warner refers to as “the greatest college basketball player ever to live.”
Maravich, who was known for his mop of brown hair, gray floppy socks and crowd-pleasing basketball skills, set numerous NCAA, SEC and LSU records.
Maravich is most famous for holding the record as the all-time leading scorer, with 3,667 college career points during a time where there was no three-point shot.
In 1988, the University named the Assembly Center, the basketball team’s new home, after the admired athlete.
Although it was once home to great athletes, barn animals are now the most frequent occupants of the coliseum.
“I would say the primary use of the coliseum now is for livestock and horse shows,” Landry said.
The School of Agriculture also uses the building for educational seminars, club meetings, workshops and social events.
Although it no longer houses basketball heroes, hundreds of people still flock to the Ag Center every year for livestock shows and rodeos.