LSU Athletic Director Joe Alleva has said that when he first arrived at LSU, he was struck by the poor condition of Tiger Stadium, particularly its rusted and broken windows.
“So we launched the campaign to replace every window in the facility, beginning with the north end where thousands of fans gather each Saturday to see the football team and the Tiger Marching Band march down Victory Hill,” Alleva said in 2010. “We only have one Tiger Stadium. We’re not going to build a new Tiger Stadium. It’s our venue. It’s a great venue for watching football, but we need to take care of it.”
The Tiger Stadium Windows Project was a huge success. Within no time, the Tiger Athletic Foundation raised the money to replace 428 windows in the stadium at $2,000 each.
Today, Tiger Stadium is a sparkling facility, the result of hundreds of millions in renovations and additions over the past five years. The stadium is, undoubtedly, the most treasured and important building on the LSU campus — far more significant to the citizens of Louisiana than the Middleton Library, which has fallen on hard times.
Across from my office in Hodges Hall, I can see Tiger Stadium and the building next door, Hatcher Hall. It rests literally within the shadow of Tiger Stadium. Among other things, Hatcher houses the LSU Speech & Hearing Clinic, Academic Programs Abroad, LSU’s Global Program and LSU International Services.
When Tiger Stadium needed 428 new windows, those who cared about the appearance of the stadium and who are devoted to the team that plays on its field, rushed to cough up $2,000 for the honor of replacing a window in the hallowed building.
Next door, however, the situation is much different. Honestly, who cares about what goes on inside Hatcher and Johnston halls? Who would possibly contribute the money to replace windows in those buildings?
“Of the remaining older buildings that still need window replacements on campus, these two are some of the top priorities,” an official at LSU Facility Services said in an email message relayed to me by University Relation. “I hope to obtain necessary funding to do at least one of these in the next 12-24 months with the other one to follow as funding is available.”
Let’s hope that money materializes.
Next to Hatcher Hall is Johnston Hall. Its windows are also in deplorable shape. The university has no funds to replace them.
Hodges Hall, where I work, has newer windows that are not rusted out.
The “new” windows of my office on the 2nd floor of Hodges Hall
Filed under: Education, LSU, Politics Tagged: Hatcher Hall, higher education, Johnston Hall, Louisiana higher education, LSU, Tiger Stadium, windows
