Death Valley Dorms (article) | TigerFan.com

Carface · Apr 27, 2005

Interesting little article on the dorms in Tiger Stadium.

Rest of article here: http://www.lsureveille.com/vnews/display.v/ART/2005/04/27/426f2e4bbbf35

Death Valley Dorms

Former students reminisce on what it was like to live in Tiger Stadium

By Julie Ginther
Contributing Writer

April 27, 2005

The place on campus best known for holding football fans once housed a group of University men who made a habit of keeping turtles in their community showers and throwing water-filled condoms from their windows.

The stadium dormitories, built in the early 1930s and closed during the late 1980s, stand empty underneath a stadium surrounded by construction. But many of the men who lived there prefer to remember their five-story concrete kingdom — a lively campus dorm where there was usually plenty of trouble to be gotten into.

Former Gov. Huey P. Long played a role in constructing the stadium. Long, who was not a University alumnus but a great advocate of University football, requested money from the state to build the stadium. When they refused, Long discovered that a large sum of state money had been set aside for new dormitories.

He put it to use in constructing the stadium dorms — which happened to be in the shape of a stadium — completing the east side in 1932 and the west in 1935. Long’s dream of having a place for University football was finished in 1937 with the completion of the north side. The south side of the stadium was later added in 1953.
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Gulf Coast Tige · Apr 27, 2005

Couldn't they renovate the dorms and rent them on Gamedays? You could spend the night in Tiger Stadium and walk out and go to the game. The TAF would make a killing. :lsup:

Sourdoughman · Apr 27, 2005

I often wondered what it was like to live there and now I Know!

Carface · Apr 27, 2005

Gulf Coast Tige said:

Couldn't they renovate the dorms and rent them on Gamedays? You could spend the night in Tiger Stadium and walk out and go to the game. The TAF would make a killing. :lsup:
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Well, as the article states:

Opening the dorms again would be nearly impossible because of the cost to meet fire and safety codes, the east and west sides have been modified so the ability to use them as dorms is unlikely, Waller said.
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But I do agree, that'd be a good idea. However, the dorms are currently used as art studios for the upperclassmen.

cajdav1 · Apr 27, 2005

I'm guessing the cost to income ratio must be prohibitive or they would have done something with them years ago.

OkieTigerTK · Apr 27, 2005

Carface said:

However, the dorms are currently used as art studios for the upperclassmen.
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A friend of mine had a studio in one of the old stadium dorm rooms. They made great studios except on game days. Try painting when your studio is shaking like an earthquake hitting!

Bengaleze · Apr 27, 2005

I lived there for 3 semesters from '78-'79, 2 semesters in North Stadium and 1 in South Stadium. There was no A/C and as a matter of fact my first semester at LSU I moved in with 3 other guys that I didn't know in a 4 man room. At that time there were not toilet stalls, only waist high partitions with no doors nor any shower curtains. As I recall when a toilet was flushed all of the cold water got cut off and you would get scalded by just hot water if you happened to be taking a shower. It was something you just learned to do, when you heard a toilet flush, you jumped out of the shower stream for about 5 sec. and then it was ok. Then I moved to an apartment. I did my time.

OkieTigerTK · Apr 27, 2005

Bengaleze said:

I lived there for 3 semesters from '78-'79, 2 semesters in North Stadium and 1 in South Stadium. There was no A/C and as a matter of fact my first semester at LSU I moved in with 3 other guys that I didn't know in a 4 man room. At that time there were not toilet stalls, only waist high partitions with no doors nor any shower curtains. As I recall when a toilet was flushed all of the cold water got cut off and you would get scalded by just hot water if you happened to be taking a shower. It was something you just learned to do, when you heard a toilet flush, you jumped out of the shower stream for about 5 sec. and then it was ok. Then I moved to an apartment. I did my time.
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They put 4 people in those little rooms??? They make great art studios - but for one person in a room!

Bengaleze · Apr 27, 2005

OkieTiger said:

They put 4 people in those little rooms??? They make great art studios - but for one person in a room!
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I'm not sure about where the art studios are but the room for 4 was roomy enough because we had bunk beds and 4 locker stlye closets and you spent most of your time in other places and basically slept and changed clothes in the room. It was located on the 5th floor of North Stadium and of course the whole wall toward the outside was windows. I did stay in a one person room for a semester, but that got old.

locoguano · Apr 28, 2005

Bengaleze said:

I lived there for 3 semesters from '78-'79, 2 semesters in North Stadium and 1 in South Stadium. There was no A/C and as a matter of fact my first semester at LSU I moved in with 3 other guys that I didn't know in a 4 man room. At that time there were not toilet stalls, only waist high partitions with no doors nor any shower curtains. As I recall when a toilet was flushed all of the cold water got cut off and you would get scalded by just hot water if you happened to be taking a shower. It was something you just learned to do, when you heard a toilet flush, you jumped out of the shower stream for about 5 sec. and then it was ok. Then I moved to an apartment. I did my time.
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Ahh.. the memories.. that is SO college.. i hated living in dorms (not at LSU, but same idea), but now i wish i had stayed in them a little longer. If you go to college, live in the dorms a couple semesters.. while they are cramped, smelly, loud, etc... its still such a big part of the college experience. Its a situation that you will never experience again. Unique experiences are what makes life a great thing.