re: The History Of The Building The Varsity & The Chimes Are In

highland villavge was more poppping in the 80s

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If I wasn't looking for it, I would have probably not even noticed it was The Varsity..

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True. But can't mistake the Frosttop.

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The Bayou was used in Sex, Lies, and Videotape for those that didn't know

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That and Zee Zee Gardens.

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The History Of The Building The Varsity & The Chimes Are In

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Why does everyone always forget about the best bar Baton Rouge ever had, TA's Tavern?

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The Bayou

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Walk in, crawl out.

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Does anyone remember when it was built?

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that area was built in the 1920's and gained popularity soon after LSU moved to it's current location. The late 70's and early 80's were prime as Chimes Street kinda reminded me of Haight Ashbury with all the hippies and killer music selection at Leisure Landing. Was sad to see the Bayou go down in flames

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...after swilling beer all afternoon in The Bayou.

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As a broke arse college student, you can't beat 25 cent longnecks on Wed. & Fri.

excerpt from an old Gumbo about the area...

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THE CHIMES
When Tim Hood attended LSU
in the mid- 1970s, he spent
most of his free time at a bar
called Dirty Pierre's, a hangout which is
long-gone, replaced by the Bayou. Little
did he know that one day he would be
co-owner of one of the most popular
hangouts on Chimes Street — the
Chimes.
At that time, the building that now
houses Hood's prosperous business was
a drugstore and had been since 1937.
Not until 1983 was the building renovated and reopened as the Chimes. The
area that now serves as the Chimes'
kitchen was a barber shop, and the section that was recently T. A.'s Tavern was
a survey supply store, Hood said.
During Hood's days as an LSU student, one section of the newly-remodeled Varsity building housed
O'Donoghue's clothing store, which
eventually closed down and reopened
as a bar. The building that now contains
Hudson Bay was once the General Store,
a business Hood described as a late
1960s-early 1970s 'head shop' that dealt
in drug paraphernalia, among other
things. And just a few shops down in
what is now the Plasma Center stood
another popular hangout known as
McGoo's Bar and Grill. The owners of
McGoo's instituted Chimes Street's annual St. Partick's Day street party, Hood
said.

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good read about back then if you're interested...

The article is on page 39 and continues on page 51 in the pdf link below titled
"Chimes Street Then"
written By Brenda Murray
LINK

IIRC when the Rexall was on the corner and next door was a men's haberdashery named The Varsity Shoppe

Man that whole thing is awesomeness!

Is than an uncredited Shannon Hoon on pg 41?