Louisiana State University

[itsjustme3]

Throwing money at a problem doesn't solve anything.

[jefften10]

An investment isn't just a monetary measurement.

 

Time, money, labor, effort, resources. Throwing money and investment are two completely different things. If we truly care about improving our city, we will work to improve the weak points instead of turning our head at the "problems".

 

We need to build and revitalize at the same time.

[itsjustme3]

Sorry but to me those just sound like empty buzz words. Meanwhile, Tigerland will continue to get worse.

[Antrell Williams]

 LSU has let Tigerland become what it is and they should be setting tougher housing codes and buying up blighted property.

No Baton Rouge has done this. LSU is not a governing body, it is an educational institution. Most people here have a "screw it I'm moving away" mentality that leads to decline.

 

I agree with jefften10, investment is the answer, not further letting Tigerland decline.

[richyb83]

Welcome to the BR Forum Jefften  There sure are plenty of weak points around BR..it has been sad to see the decline of Tigerland area amongst others...would be nice to see some more revitalization!

 

Good question...how much more housing is needed in the LSU area before the market becomes over-saturated??

 

Wonder how many floors will occupy the mixed-use development at the old Alex Box site?? Looking forward to seeing some renderings; hopefully soon!

[jefften10]

Welcome to the BR Forum Jefften  There sure are plenty of weak points around BR..it has been sad to see the decline of Tigerland area amongst others...would be nice to see some more revitalization!

 

Good question...how much more housing is needed in the LSU area before the market becomes over-saturated??

 

Wonder how many floors will occupy the mixed-use development at the old Alex Box site?? Looking forward to seeing some renderings; hopefully soon!

Thanks!

 

Engle reality is building another one of these housing projects called "University Edge" at McKinnley and Alaska. Great for the neighborhood, and in a part of town that is not yet saturated. The success there would be a test for me to determine how saturated it really is.

 

I remember reading that it would be 2017 at the earliest before this development at Alex Box would be finished. Hopefully when done, it will tie in nicely to the rest of the progress in the Nicholson corridor area!

[Antrell Williams]

Thanks!

 

Engle reality is building another one of these housing projects called "University Edge" at McKinnley and Alaska. Great for the neighborhood, and in a part of town that is not yet saturated. The success there would be a test for me to determine how saturated it really is.

 

I remember reading that it would be 2017 at the earliest before this development at Alex Box would be finished. Hopefully when done, it will tie in nicely to the rest of the progress in the Nicholson corridor area!

Hopefully with these projects OSBR will start to gentrify.

[garrett_225]

http://businessreport.com/editorial-pdfs/DR/NicholsonPlan.pdf

 

Plans for Nicholson Gateway made public. 

[richyb83]

Thanks for posting...beat me to it...been looking at much the 205 page pdf on & off most of the evening. Looks to create a "wow factor" that you have arrived to LSU(opposite side of Tiger Stadium)

 

I like how North Stadium Drive is extended across Nicholson (into the mixed-use core/university village w/ central plaza) & bends down south onto Skip Bertman Drive. A compact town center enviroment.

 

Similar developments mentioned include......Eddy Street Commons at Notre Dame Univ......South Campus Gateway at Ohio State...and the one in Cincinnati 

 

+ The Central Plaza...with pedestrian connectivity...Champions Square-NOLA; American Airlines Plaza-Dallas...Nokia Center-LA...& Westgate City Center-Glendale AZ

Edited February 1, 2013 by richyb83

[steve3n8]

LSU Foundation may build new headquarters

    

LSU Foundation representatives are talking to potential donors about the possibility of building a new headquarters near the site of the old Alex Box Stadium. Spokeswoman Sara Crow says the foundation has run out of space in its current, rented home at the Lod Cook Alumni Center on West Lakeshore Drive, and says a new building would fit well with the university's plans for the Nicholson Gateway mixed-use development. A discussion about a possible ground lease for a 149,250-square-foot site at Nicholson Drive and Skip Bertman Drive is on the agenda for today's LSU Board of Supervisors meeting. Crow says the size and cost of the building have not been determined. She says the foundation would benefit from having its own space to host events. LSU Press and University Relations are housed in separate buildings on West Lakeshore among several sorority houses; Crow says those two units might join the foundation in the envisioned new building, which would create space for LSU to bring on a new sorority or two. —David Jacobs

Businessreport.com

[itsjustme3]

It's too bad everything is crammed around the lake. It should have been the focal point. Now they have to make that ugly land between the river and the stadium somehow attractive.

[buckett5425]

I really like the plan overall, what I dislike is the inconsistency in LSU's ability to master plan. Would the new Barnes and Noble been more effective as an anchor for this new development? What about the new South Campus off GSRI, would those facilities be better located in this mixed use development? What about the new single use EA technology center, it would have been perfect for this mixed use development.

 

If LSU wants to pull this development off successfully, they will need to better examine their current allocation of resources. 

[garrett_225]

I think at one time there was talk of putting another bookstore on the Nicholson side of campus. Not sure if that's still in the cards. 

 

I don't think this is meant to be the center of campus, so much as an anchor for the West side of campus. I like that the bookstore is closer to the academic center of campus, and easily accessible from student housing on both sides of campus. But you are correct, this vision does need some wow factor as an anchor. Some primary destination to give people a reason to be there. 

Edited February 2, 2013 by garrett_225

[itsjustme3]

LSU is just following Baton Rouge and Louisianas poor history of planning. Nothing new.

[Antrell Williams]

State budget cuts and the corresponding sinking opinions of peer

institutions have put LSU in danger of falling out of the nation’s top

tier universities recognized in the popular U.S. News & World Report

rankings, System President William Jenkins said Tuesday.

LSU ranked as the 134th best school in the nation last year out of the roughly 200 schools regarded as tier one institutions.

“We’re

at the tipping point of going from a tier one to a tier two,” Jenkins

said during a meeting of LSU’s Transition Advisory Team. The 10-member

group is in charge of coming up with recommendations for LSU’s current

structural reorganization.

If LSU were to fall out of the top

tier, it would deal a significant blow to a university that first

reached that status — to much fanfare — just four years ago.

http://theadvocate.com/home/5229371-125/jenkins-lsu-in-precarious-position

[steve3n8]

 

^{LSU Hilltop Arboretum breaks ground on expansion}

 

^{A new 22,000-square-foot facility will more than double the existing space at the LSU Hilltop Arboretum on Highland Road when the project is completed this summer. Officials held a groundbreaking Tuesday for the $1.28 million expansion project. The Imogene Newsom Brown Education Facility—named in honor of the late initial donor to the project—will feature the Beverly Brown Coates Auditorium, conference room, warming kitchen and courtyard. The facility will be the first LSU building to be constructed with enough energy-efficient components to be registered with the U.S. Green Building Council for possible Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design, or LEED, certification. In addition to serving as the setting of educational programming, the new facility will be the site of fundraising events. It's the final piece of a 1999 building plan that includes the existing administrative building, library and open-air pavilion. LSU Hilltop Arboretum Director Peggy Davis Coates says the Friends of the LSU Hilltop Arboretum group raised all funds for the expansion project, through more than 300 private donations. The project is expected to be complete in August, she adds}

^{Businessreport.com}

[nquint1]

I wanted to start a discussion about roundabouts on LSU's campus, but figured it made more sense to post it here than in the roundabouts thread since the link has a lot of LSU-related projects in it. I came across a thread on tigerdroppings.com that discusses current and future construction projects on campus. The second post mentions adding roundabouts at Dalrymple and W Lakeshore, and at S. Stadium and S. Campus. Those seem like great locations.

 

I really hope the university has plans to add a roundabout at S. Campus and Field House Dr. That intersection is way more confusing than it needs to be, for both vehicles and pedestrians. I also think the E. Parker/S. Lakeshore/W. Lakeshore/Stadium intersection could really benefit from a roundabout. The traffic backs up on W. Lakeshore and you get a lot of people cutting out into oncoming traffic. I'm surprised there aren't more accidents there. It would also make it a more attractive entrance to the campus. Anyone have any input on other intersections on LSU's campus that could use a roundabout?

 

I also thought the Tower Drive project was really interesting. The pedestrian traffic in this area is very heavy. Not sure what will become of some of the faculty parking lots that only have access to Tower Drive. Is someone more familiar with this project?

 

http://www.tigerdroppings.com/rant/p/41754248/LSU-Campus-Construction-Update-Updated-with-More-Pics.aspx

[richyb83]

Glad you did nquint1...good ole Tiger Droppings lol! Like the idea's for the roundabouts mentioned in & around campus...slow things down a bit; but w/ continuous-flow...Stadium Drive/West & South Lakeshore/East Parker would be ideal as any for a roundabout! Interesting plans for Tower Drive.

 

Also  in the works for the big mixed use project; the future site-plan included two roundabouts along Nicholson; 1st at Burbank...the 2nd at Nicholson extension

 

BTW How are things up in Connecticut??

[nquint1]

I'm actually back home in Ocean Springs, MS. I've been here for a year, but I'll be leaving this fall to study urban planning at VCU. Really looking forward to being back on the east coast and getting to study something I've been interested in for awhile now!

 

Found this pdf on LSU's website that explains the current Easy Streets plans a little better. http://sustainability.lsu.edu/files/item29525.pdf The quality isn't great, but you can see that they plan to keep two lanes for vehicles on Tower Drive from S. Campus to Raphael Semmes. So the faculty parking lots won't be cut off. Wonder what they'll do about the loss of employee street parking? I'm kind of surprised they haven't added a parking lot at the vacant corner of Highland and S. Stadium.

[richyb83]

Oh ok...that's cool! Keep us updated on your urban planning studies at VCU. I was impressed how dense historical Richmond VA was....

 

And thanks for the link...a lot going on in & around LSU!

[richyb83]

LSU goes on building spree

 

With the closing acts of the 2012-13 athletic year about to be played out at LSU, bats and balls and pads and cleats will be giving ground to construction cranes and concrete trucks.

Though LSU’s athletic plant is never truly in a state of completion — the state of the art in facilities being a constantly moving target — the next year and a half promises to be an exceptionally busy time.

 

By the end of 2014, plans call for the completion of Tiger Stadium’s latest addition, a new tennis complex, the start of a gymnastics practice facility, a home for LSU’s newest sport and more.

Here’s a look at LSU’s latest facility improvement plans:

 

http://theadvocate.com/sports/lsu/6020768-123/lsu-goes-on-building-spree

[cajun]

Perhaps more impressive is that most of this is financed through TAF.

Your purchase of an licensed LSU hat or purple and gold underpants contributed to this and to academic facility improvements. The more engaged the locals are with athletics only contributes more to TAF.

Edited May 26, 2013 by cajun

[richyb83]

A bit of nostalgia here...a recent movie actually used the pool(not sure of year?)...what will happen here??

 

LSU organization working to save crumbling Huey P. Long Pool....Losing a landmark?

 

Locked behind a rusted gate in the shadow of Death Valley lies an abandoned piece of LSU history. The Huey P. Long Pool once provided a place where students gathered to escape the classrooms.

 

In August 1944, The Daily Reveille described the Huey P. Long Pool as a place, “where old friends gather, new friends meet, dates are made, and sometimes broken.” Since its closure in 2003, it has deteriorated to a shell of its former grandeur. Moss grows through the cracks of the old running track, graffiti stains the walls of the locker rooms, and algae thrives in the rain water that accumulates in the pit that was once a symbol of Longism.

 

However, a student organization is pushing to restore the pool to its former glory and reincorporate it into the culture of LSU. LSU student Michael Finkelstein founded Landmark LSU in 2008 as a campus unification project to restore the university’s historic landmarks. In 2009, Landmark LSU called attention to the decaying Greek amphitheater near the LSU Performing Arts Academy

 

*rest of article

http://theadvocate.com/features/people/6109631-123/losing-a-landmark

[itsjustme3]

It's just a pool. Fill it in.

[Antrell Williams]

It should be saved. We have lost enough history.