Should Old Acquaintance Be Forgot

Hi everybody, amd Merry Christmas! We're not allowed to say that up here in New York City, where there is a War On Christmas! Just kidding! It's been far too long since I last posted, so here is a long-planned update on your favorite ABR sites, a la at the end of movies when it's like, 

and,

The following post sat idling in draft form probably a year ago or more, as I added a note here and a photo there. I never got to take all the hoped-for photos before moving, but here we are. If anyone wants to supply missing shots and/or more information, I'll be happy to credit you.

But don't think of it as an epilogue for a dead blog; only one that is mostly dead. Consider this also a call for suggestions: I need more curious abandoned sites to feature on ABR. I'll be back in town briefly in April and would love to shoot photos for future posts.

A Tinseltown Surprise

 

It only closed in the past few years or so, if memory serves, but I still thought every time I passed it en route to New Orleans that I had to check out the former Tinseltown movie theater. Even a few months can do some interesting damage to a structure here. Plus, you never know what you might find. Turns out it was a quick and mostly uneventful visit, but I did find something pretty cool.

Huey P. Long Fieldhouse Pool

 

 

The Huey P. Long Fieldhouse was completed on the LSU campus in 1932. Hearsay says that Huey Long intended it to be the biggest pool around, longer than any run-of-the-mill Olympic-sized pool. It was designed by Weiss, Dreyfus and Seiferth, the same firm that designed the new state capitol.

UPDATE: This originally said "old state capitol" and a few commenters pointed out that I had my information wrong. Please forgive this damned Yankee.

Until the 1970s, it was required that every LSU student take a swim class, but by then the pool was already in decline. It has been closed since approximately 1999 and has been silently crumbling ever since, relatively unnoticed amidst the thriving campus.

In early June, I was allowed access to the condemned structure housing the pool *with police escort.* Gotta say, I love having a police escort. They can escort my scared ass any time around abandoned buildings.

Endless Buffet of Leftovers

And now, a bunch of sites I've been meaning to post from two recent excursions, but they were trumped by the showing and telling of the time I saw coffins and the time I could have ended up in a coffin.

First, yet another car repair joint, this one on Florida and more colorful than most. Note the sinkhole in the repair floor, below. 

 

ABR Inspires Bizarre Art

You're about to see the second video (first linked here) made with photos from Abandoned Baton Rouge. In this case, the video was made with one photo from my visit to the Jimmy Swaggart Bible College dorm, and it's one that has always been a hit with the kids (I believe there's a framed version of this photo somewhere in Jackson, MI).

After the jump, the song and video for "If You Like Pina Coladas, Kiss My Black Ass."

The Racquetballer

I went to The Racquetballer immediately after getting a tip from a reader. He thinks it closed in the mid-80s and the inside probably looked like nothing had changed since. That was all I needed to hear.

The real Superstore : No prices every day

Judging by the font, the real Superstore began claiming "Low prices every day" around the early 80s.

Some "whatever happened to..." speculation about Superstore here. (I think we all know what happened. Its initials are W-m.)

 

Uninhabited River Road, part 2

See part one of this excursion here.

It's only after our River Road trip happened that I'm becoming more aware of how rich it is in historic sites and plantations. Without that previous knowledge, this next stop, J.N. Barthel General Merchandise store, was so perfectly Olde Tyme America, I kind of doubted its authenticity.

Why is the lettering on the sign such a crisp, bright white? Has this been restored, and/or is this part of a movie set? If this is a real site, you'll see below that we can date it to 1880. (But then why is that lettering in such fresh black paint?)

Here's one benefit of having a tall fiance: he was able to reach up and take this shot through a high window.

 

See the brand-new wood in the right foreground--? Movie set?

Clearly, this Jersey girl by-way-of Brooklyn is not accustomed to having such quaint antique buildings just casually hanging out unattended at the side of the road.

Gone With the Sinned: Swaggart Bible College Dorm

The HQ for Jimmy Swaggart Ministries is in Baton Rouge.

It is still occupado. However, not all the buildings on its campus are. This never-completed dorm for the Jimmy Swaggart Bible College has a fence around it, so because I am a law-abiding citizen, these like, other guys named Cosh and Jo supplied me with photos.