Kirby Smith Hall will be imploded in June, LSU says — for real, this time
Kirby Smith Hall will be imploded in June, LSU says — for real, this time
Kirby Smith Hall, the notorious LSU dorm that looms over campus, will finally be imploded in June 2022 and will be replaced with a green space, university officials say.
LSU has planned to get rid of Kirby Smith several times over the years, but growing demand for on-campus housing has repeatedly delayed those plans.
“I think the fact that it’s been on again and off again has been complicated but I can guarantee at this point that, sometime in early June, Kirby Smith will fall to the ground,” said Peter Trentacoste, executive director for Residential Life at LSU.
The opening of two new residence halls, Azalea Hall and Camellia Hall, in the fall created enough housing capacity to make the demolition possible
“We had about 800 beds come on line with Azalea and Camellia, which made up for the capacity because Kirby was around 500 or so,” Trentacoste said. “At that point we began saying that we have the capacity now, so it’s time to move forward with the ultimate demolition.”
Built in 1965, Kirby Smith housed decades of LSU students before it was first closed in 2006.
As the demand for student housing grew, university officials reopened the building in 2011 after a $1.7 million renovation.
Upon its reopening in 2011, then-LSU chancellor Michael Martin joked that students considering living in Kirby Smith Hall would get to enjoy a “historic international experience.”
“It’s a chance to live in the Soviet Union,” Martin said at the time.
The building has also been the subject of controversy because it was named after Confederate general Edmund Kirby Smith, who didn’t surrender until nearly two months after the rest of the Confederate army surrendered at Appomattox.
Several locations across the LSU campus named after Civil War figures have been renamed in recent years.
