by Doug Ireland
With all the usual joy of the holiday season, and celebration of a new year, did you realize we’re hitting a quarter-century milepost now?
Wasn’t it not long ago we just cleared that scary Y2K hurdle? Chances are if you’re reading this, you share my perspective.
A New Year brings optimism and anticipation. That’s certainly true for the Louisiana Sports Hall of Fame, along with a huge sense of appreciation and accomplishment for what has happened since New Year’s Day 2000, as well as in the last 12 months.
Big picture first: a 50-year dream became reality June 28, 2013 when the doors opened, with Shaquille O’Neal greeting guests, at the still spectacular Louisiana Sports Hall of Fame and Northwest Louisiana History Museum at 800 Front Street in Natchitoches. Easier locator: on the traffic circle at the north end of scenic, brick-paved Front Street along Cane River Lake in the downtown historic district.
Or, an older landmark right around the corner of Lafayette and Front Street is Kaffie-Frederick General Mercantile Store, Louisiana’s oldest general store, dating back to 1863. The cash register is a 1910 model. If you can’t find something you want or need here, you’re not trying.
And if you haven’t visited the museum, it’s time. It’s never been better or more fascinating.
The architecture remains world-class. The building was named the No. 1 new architectural project in the world in 2013, the only one in North America on a top 10 list. The second-place project was an addition to the Louvre in Paris.
What’s outside, and especially inside, is better than ever. There’s been a major refresh of exhibits, sports and history, in the past year as the museum passed its 10 th birthday. There have been new additions of content and to add aesthetic appeal.
As 2025 begins, two sensational exhibits are on the menu along with all of the permanent displays and interactives. When the Creole Origins Exhibition: Cane River Disasporas 1770-1830 was installed in November in the Atmos Energy Changing Exhibit Gallery, the Showtime! LSU’s Spectacular Pistol Pete exhibit didn’t disappear as expected. Museum director Jennae Biddiscombe and Baton Rouge photographer John Musemeche preserved about 90 percent of the photo collection in a new setting just inside the front door, in the Hall of Fame gallery.
Outside, under the front roof, is a new 7-foot beacon/sign, lit after dark, signaling to drivers passing by and pedestrians that something special is inside this different-looking building. It’s perfect for photo ops for families or singles. Draw near and you’ll find inset in the L-S-H-O-F letters names, hometowns, alma maters and sports of many of the most prominent Hall of Fame inductees – all those for example in the Pro Football Hall of Fame, the National Baseball Hall of Fame, the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame, the Women’s Basketball Hall of Fame, and more. Somebody from every part of our state is listed.
As you walk inside, there’s a colorful new display, a visual treat that changes as visitors move past. It’s already a favorite of kids because it spotlights about a dozen fairly famous LSHOF inductees by height, from little gymnast Susan Jackson and LSU basketball coach Kim Mulkey up to Peyton Manning, Ben McDonald, Karl Malone and yes, of course, Shaq, in the town he calls “Shaquitoches.”
Jackson joined another LSU sports hero, two-time College World Series champ and 13-year MLB veteran Todd Walker, on the second Hall of Fame float in this year’s Natchitoches Christmas Festival parade. Walker showed he still has good arm strength firing doubloons and other LSHOF keepsakes to people on balconies along the parade route.
The year past was a milestone of its own, with Peabody High School’s incomparable boys coach Charles Smith, a 2019 LSHOF inductee, and a newbie, LSU’s Seimone Augustus, entering the Basketball Hall of Fame in October, taking their spots in a lineup that includes the game’s greatest coaches (like John Wooden, Red Auerbach, Lenny Wilkens) and players (Michael Jordan, Bill Russell, Bob Pettit, Jerry West for starters).
Recently, a cornerstone of the Hall made a debut at the Capitol Park Museum in Baton Rouge. Just opened there, at another Louisiana State Museum property, is a fabulous exhibit showcasing a significant part of the collection of the Cannon Trust, formed to preserve the memorabilia and legacy of LSU’s first Heisman Trophy winner, Billy Cannon. His widow, Dot, and his daughter Bunnie, joined 2023 LSHOF inductee Walter Imahara and many other friends, including Lt. Gov. Billy Nungesser, former Lt. Gov. and commissioner of administration Jay Dardenne, recently elected Baton Rouge Mayor Sid Edwards and more at the mid-December opening of the showcase that will be available through early next year. That means Cannon’s Heisman will not visit Natchitoches twice in 2025 as it normally does, thanks to the Cannon family, but the Heisman Trophy exhibit upstairs in the local shrine is reason enough to come on in. After all, Louisiana has produced three of the last six Heisman winners (Joe Burrow, DeVonta Smith and Jayden Daniels).
What is ahead this year? An induction class featuring LSU and NFL great Andrew Whitworth at the annual celebration slated June 26-28 (visit LaSportsHall.com for info), a fun-filled Spring Celebrity Golf Classic at a soon-to-be announced north Louisiana course, and more museum improvements, including a new snazzy and well stocked gift shop.
That’s what we know. Wouldn’t be surprising to see a LSHOF member (or two) among the 2025 class of the Pro Football Hall of Fame (several are semifinalists, like Jahri Evans, Reggie Wayne and Eli Manning). Don’t blink. You could miss something. But don’t miss making a visit to Natchitoches to check out the museum – soon.
