If walls could talk, those inside the former Benton High gym behind the Bossier Parish School Board Central Office could write a book.
For longer than he can remember, Bossier Schools Superintendent Jason Rowland has had his eyes on the old gym and envisioned putting it back into circulation one day. He remembers being the visiting team playing basketball there, while Bossier Parish Sheriff Julian Whittington recounts that his mother and uncle played on the hardwood for the Benton Tigers.
Over the last few decades, the building – still architecturally intact – fell off the radar and was used for storage. That is no longer the case after wheels were put into motion to breathe new life into the iconic building. After a quick six-month rehabilitation and major renovation, a large crowd gathered in mid-December outside 110 Kelly Street to celebrate the ‘re-grand opening’ and snip the ribbon before getting a peek inside. The building will now centralize several departments that were scattered throughout the district and create efficiencies.
“It allows us to expand. This is a growing community, a growing school system. Everything we’re doing here, this building just says that,” Rowland told KTBS 3 News.
The gym first opened in 1937 during the Great Depression as part of the New Deal programs under the administration of President Franklin D. Roosevelt. Meant to help spur the economy following World War I, Benton High was funded as a Public Works Administration project. The original plaque for PWA Project 1135-F remains on the brick wall above the entrance door.
Other nostalgic nods were retained and incorporated into the renovation as well. The words “Tigerette Den” remain painted on the wall where the girls’ locker room once was and Maintenance Supervisor Stacy Roge personally restored the original scoreboard and clock. The score now reads Visitors – 20, Home – 24, permanently giving the Benton Tigers home advantage.