by Doug Ireland
There are some select words, spoken quickly in a phone call, that generate an immediate reaction and a feeling of dread. Not making that list, but I’ll give you the one I heard a few days after 2025 began.
Fire.
Followed by, “I’m at the museum.”
Followed by, “the fire department had to break down the front door.”
Mental images were flashing through at a five-alarm rate.
Fortunately, it was bad, just not terrible.
The call came as I was getting ready for church Sunday morning, Jan. 4. I didn’t make it to the first part of the service at First United Methodist Church of Natchitoches. Fortunately I didn’t miss the entire hour, because the Louisiana Sports Hall of Fame and Northwest Louisiana History Museum was not ablaze, and the damage was relatively minimal.
The alarm was triggered at 10:08 a.m., and the sprinkler system apparently went into action immediately. Just a few minutes later, the Natchitoches Fire Department arrived at 800 Front Street, and once inside, immediately found the small electrical fire on the Wall of Honor in the Hall of Fame gallery just inside the front door.
There was a lot of water and soot on the wooden floor in the room. The 90-foot-long wall contained nameplates for every Hall of Fame competitor enshrined since 1958. The nearly 400 nameplates were frosted acrylic. Most of them appeared to have smoke damage.
There was a gaping, burned-out hole where one of the three data base stations was located. It was destroyed. The blaze originated behind the screen, apparently generated by sparks from a frayed wire installed in early 2013. That station is the mothership, where a laptop is connected to update the data base when a Hall of Fame member adds an honor, or an accomplishment or records evolve – or one of the members passes away. So it gets opened several times a year. Something somehow got twisted and … sparks flew on that dreadful Sunday morning.
Remarkably, there didn’t appear to be damage to the display case less than 10 feet away, directly facing where the flames were dancing.
In that case, closest to the burn: football jerseys worn by Bert Jones and his good friends the Mannings – dad Archie, sons Peyton and Eli. Among the other items in there were a New York Knicks warmup top donned by Willis Reed; a well-worn New Orleans Jazz floppy sock that belonged to Pistol Pete Maravich; vintage wool baseball uniforms of the Boston Red Sox (Mel Parnell) and New York Yankees (Atley Donald); two baseballs, provided by the family of Baseball Hall of Famer Mel Ott, which bore signatures of all-time greats including Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig, Ty Cobb … you get the gist. A coaching cap worn by Ace Mumford of Southern. An LSU football helmet signed by Billy Cannon. An Eddie Robinson game plan. Gary Reasons’ retired No. 34 Northwestern Demons football jersey. And more.
That case was the biggest concern on that Sunday. Other worries arose, going all around the structure.
Smoke and noxious fumes wafted throughout the two stories of the 27,500-square foot museum. Did they affect other displays, notably a few upstairs that are not contained by display cases?
What about the impact of the smoke on the beautiful custom crafted stone walls?
Then, how long would it take to evaluate all items, and to repair the obvious damage from the fire, and the water on the floor and into the ceiling, which contains extensive wiring for the data base, the lighting, the sound and the projection systems in the Hall of Fame gallery?
The next day, museum manager Jennae Biddiscombe reached out to every Hall of Famer (or family member) who had provided items that were displayed in the room. Everybody was gracious and confident that Louisiana State Museum professionals would give the finest care to their memorabilia, and they have.
One of the earliest calls went to Eli Manning. It went like this:
“Eli, I have to tell you there was a lot of water from the sprinklers and the fire department, and some may have gotten into the case and could be on your jersey.”
He replied: “Miss Jennae, I bet when I wore that jersey, we played in the rain several times. It’s gotten wet. It’s gonna be fine!”
Almost a month later, Eli is still on target.
First – no water damage, no smoke damage to items in display cases, which were sealed as tightly as hoped.
Second – museum system officials have been pleased with the rapid response from insurance personnel and other state and private-sector parties who are making a fairly rapid recovery possible.
Third – the calamity creates opportunity. The museum opened June 28, 2013. That wall was developed from a 2011 concept. It’s now 2025. Lt. Gov. Billy Nungesser, who oversees the Louisiana State Museum system including the Natchitoches shrine, says the situation could result in an upgraded display in partnership with the Louisiana Sports Hall of Fame Foundation.
Nungesser is right. No reason to go back in time and replicate a 14-year-old concept. Hall of Fame Foundation CEO/President Ronnie Rantz and others were already slotting in a major revamp for that wall as Phase 5 of a series of museum improvements which began with an art-deco, distinctive exterior sign to grab attention of drivers and pedestrians passing the museum at the traffic circle on the north end of Front Street. Phase 2, a colorful display just inside the front door, was undamaged in the incident and has been well-received by visitors since it was installed in early November.
Phase 3 is renovation of the welcome area to include installation of a gift shop, aiming for the June 26-28 2025 Induction Celebration. Phase 4: extensive floor and lighting enhancements to spice up the upstairs display areas. Now, Phase 5 might leapfrog to the front of the line.
There are hopes the museum, except for the Hall of Fame gallery, will reopen soon, hopefully before March. That’s great news providing access to a brilliant, Smithsonian-level exhibit in the Atmos Energy Gallery – “Creole Origins: Cane River Diasporas, 1730-1830” is as impressive a showcase as any in the 11½ years of the changing exhibit gallery and is on its own, reason enough to visit.
There’s still the entire Louisiana Sports Paradise display on the second floor with a vast array of exhibits and technology celebrating state sports history and culture, along with the Northwest Louisiana History Museum.
Don’t let a temporary setback be a stumbling block keeping you from checking out the museum sooner than later. It’s always a great idea to #GoNatchitoches because Louisiana’s oldest, most charming city has so much to offer.