Relics 2015: Save the Barn at Buhlow Lake

As a child, looking out the windows of my parents’ car, the old dairy barn always intrigued me. Possibly central Louisiana’s most beloved landmark, the old dairy barn sits high atop a hill overlooking Lake Buhlow on the grounds of Central Louisiana State Hospital in Pineville. The barn was built in 1923 when Lake Buhlow was still a pasture. In the 1950s, the lake was built where the pastures once were, retiring the barn from its service as the dairy and relegating it to more mundane duties such as storage. The barn was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1986. Aside from being stabilized and having the roof reinforced in the 1990s, the building has been in a slow state of decline, with decay quickly becoming more evident in the last couple of years. The Louisiana Trust for Historic Preservation lists the barn as one of the ten most endangered historic sites in Louisiana. —Jeff G. Stephens

A barn in decline makes for a picturesque subject. But it’s no way to treat a landmark, in photographer Jeff G. Stephens’ view.

As a kid growing up in Alexandria, Stephens would spy the barn along the route to visit relatives in Pineville. He’s a Pineville resident himself now and has taken notice of local efforts to restore the structure.

Found on Facebook as “Save the Dairy Barn at Buhlow Lake,” the cause has garnered some nine-thousand supporters. “Last I heard they had engineers come assess the barn and see what needs to be done,” said Stephens.

Full restoration would require over $3 million to fund. “But for a fraction of that,” said Stephens, “they can preserve it until it can be sold. Major roof work and replacing at least one wall are things that need to be done as soon as enough funds can be raised in order to ensure the preservation of it.”

The relocation of Central Louisiana State Hospital puts the former pasture on the market. “They can sell it to someone who has money to invest in [the barn], to turn it into a restaurant or event space,” said Stephens.

Primarily a landscape photographer, Stephens wielded a Canon 20D converted to infrared for this particular shot. “It provides a whole lot of detail and contrast,” said Stephens.

Join the effort to preserve those details on Facebook. View more of Stephens’ work at facebook.com/JeffGStephensPhotography.

Learn more about Relics: 2015 Photo Project, our year-long call for photographs of fading regional history, here.