Plaque Recalls History of Bossier City Arena

It is remarkable how quickly people come to take something for granted. Within weeks to months, even the things that thrilled one at first, such as a new car or a new job, lose their thrill as they become the new normal. One might even start to have trouble remembering when the thing entered one’s life, and may feel as though it has always been there. This phenomenon, I believe, is the biggest hurdle we face in studying and sharing local history. It is easy to take interest in the history of, say, ancient Egypt because it is so different from one’s modern-day life that learning about it gives one the thrill of novelty. It is more difficult to take interest in the history of one’s own neighborhood, because it feels so mundane and ever-present. Though most start life naturally curious, after a point, curiosity becomes a skill that must be intentionally honed and maintained.

However, it is also possible for curiosity to be sparked in someone, even about the things they take for granted. At least, this was my own experience when, while looking through a large, recent donation from the Bossier City Council, I stumbled upon a plaque commemorating the ceremony of the “Bossier City Multipurpose Arena,” now known as the Brookshire Grocery Arena. I moved to Northwest Louisiana in 1999; I cannot remember a time that the arena has not been there. I don’t recall ever thinking about its age, but if you had asked me, I would have guessed it was around fifty years old, though, internally, I would have felt that it’s always been there, serving as a venue, a landmark, and a source of much stress for those caught in pre- or post-event traffic. I was rather taken aback when I looked at the plaque, and saw the year 1999, meaning the arena is several years younger than I am. I was also surprised to see Bossier City Multipurpose Arena. I had believed it only had three names, CenturyTel Center, CenturyLink Center, and the present Brookshire Grocery Arena. That led me to more questions, such as “So when was it opened?”, and “Who decided to build it?”, and “How many names have they given that thing?” “Why on Earth have they changed it so much?”

Bossier City received a significant economic windfall in the early 1990s, thanks in large part to the debut of the riverboat casinos. Talk soon turned to more city development, with a potential entertainment district and amphitheater being discussed as early as 1994. Such ideas originally centered around downtown Bossier, but in February of 1998, the city council revealed development plans for south Bossier, including a 14,000-seat arena to be built on Arthur Ray Teague Parkway, on a site that had once been part of Mrs. Paulina Pickett’s Chalk Level Plantation.

Despite controversy, particularly over the chosen site, the groundbreaking ceremony for the Bossier City Multipurpose Arena (called simply “The Bossier City Arena” in other sources) commenced on March 30, 1999, with over 150 people venturing out into “chilly temperatures and a light rain” to witness city officials plunge spades into “a sea of mud,” as the Bossier-Press Tribune reported. On July 20, 2000, Mayor George Dement announced that CenturyTel, Inc. (a Monroe-based telecommunications company, now known as Lumen Technologies, Inc.) had agreed to sponsor the arena, and had paid over $5 million - approximately 1/12 of the arena’s construction cost - to have the arena renamed the CenturyTel Center. It opened with a public walk-through on October 28, 2000, with an estimated 400 people participating. It was renamed the CenturyLink Center in 2011, two years after CenturyTel, Inc. itself had been renamed CenturyLink. CenturyLink would continue to pay Bossier City for the arena’s naming rights until 2021, after which a new contract was signed with Brookshire Grocery Group of Tyler, Texas.

Whatever its name, the arena has more than lived up to its original title of “multipurpose arena.” It hosted its first concert (REO Speedwagon & Styx) on November 21, 2000, and since then, it has been a venue for concerts, tournaments, circuses, graduations, rodeos, and more, and has served as the home of three sports teams, including the recently-created Louisiana Rouxgaroux. It has hosted more than 7 million visitors from all 50 states, and accounts for the vast majority of ticket sales in the Ark-La-Tex. As of 2025, its “estimated economic impact since opening” was around $500 million. Whether you love or hate it, there is no denying that this building has irrevocably altered Bossier Parish.

Yet, despite that enormous impact, I hadn’t thought about the arena until I saw the plaque. This, I believe, is why the preservation and presentation of historical artifacts is so important, particularly for local history. Historical information is easier to access than ever, thanks to archives, museums, and Internet databases. However, all other information (and misinformation) is also easier to access than ever, and with so many competing distractions, it’s easy for history to be overlooked. Objects can help cut through the noise, as they can spark curiosity and make the abstract information feel more “real.” In a swirling sea of information, artifacts can be lighthouses, guiding us towards true knowledge.

If you have any information relating to the history of Bossier City and Bossier Parish, the History Center may be interested in adding the material to its research collection. Call or visit us to learn more. We are open Monday - Friday 9-6, and Saturday by appointment. Our phone number is (318) 746-7717 and our email is history-center@bossierlibrary.org. We can also be found online at https://www.facebook.com/BPLHistoryCenter/ and http://bpl-hc.blogspot.com/

Image:   Plaque from the 1999 groundbreaking for the Bossier

Article by: Jaylie Rester

Time Stands Still for Old South Bossier Home

 Along Highway 71 in south Bossier stands a home that seems somewhat out of place. Part of no neighborhood, it’s located in a field not far from Walker Place Park and the Brookshires Grocery Arena with majestic, white columns and a brick façade. I’ve long been curious about the home’s history, and apparently others have too, as evidenced by a recent email to the History Center asking about the place.

Newspaper accounts state that the two-story colonial dates to the World War II era. An article in The Shreveport Times from August 4, 1998, describing renovation efforts at the house, states “Construction workers last week began refurbishing the 3,000 square-foot home, which was built in the early 1940s …” An ad in a 1945 edition of The Shreveport Journal lists the place for sale. “Upstairs there are three exceptionally large bedrooms with two baths complete,” according to the ad. “Downstairs there is the kitchen with many built-in features, a large dining room, breakfast room, living room that is huge and comfortable.” Included were a three-car garage, and on the home’s east side, a large porch. The showplace was called Rainbow Manor, the name coming from the land on which the home stood, Rainbow Plantation. Also included were stables and three large barns.

According to an article written by Bossier Parish Historian Clif Cardin in the Bossier Press Tribune on October 26, 2000, this property was called Chalk Level Plantation in the 1800s, and later Red Chute Plantation before being renamed Rainbow. One of the earliest accounts I found of the plantation being referred to as Rainbow was a story in The Shreveport Journal from July 6, 1915 discussing the sub-division of the 1,000-acre property for farming. “The plantation will be divided into 20-acre tracts, each fenced and provided with a house and barn,” the article states. “The buyers will be supplied with horses and wagons, implements and seed and feed for the first year.” This venture fell through.

In 1946, planter and cattle breeder John Walker, Jr. bought the home and the surrounding land, which, by then, encompassed 360 acres. At least part of that acreage was later used for equestrian training, as evidenced by a pictorial in the December 6, 1963 issue of The Shreveport Journal showing young people on horseback at the property jumping over obstacles. An accompanying article states, “Learning to jump and teaching their horses to jump is of particular interest among the youngsters.”

By the mid-1970s, suburban growth was envisioned for this area of south Bossier. The Shreveport Journal reported in an article on January 17, 1974, “Plans for … development of a major residential-commercial project in Bossier City … were revealed today by the Don Coleman Construction Company, Inc. The development will be on land formerly called the Rainbow Plantation.” According to the article, the home was to remain on site.

Although those plans didn’t come to full fruition, the home did remain and was occupied by a Walker family member until February 1996. Two years later, the city owned the home and began refurbishing efforts, intending to turn the vacant house into an arts and information center, complete with state-of-the art conference facilities, but results of a lawsuit, brought by the U. L. Coleman Company over traffic access to the Teague Parkway, forced the city to abandon the idea and relinquish ownership. The home was used for office space during construction of the nearby arena, and the Bossier-Shreveport Battle Wings football team briefly used the home for office space in the early 2000s. Since then, it has apparently stood mostly empty and silent. While the tides of change move swiftly around it, for the home, time seems to stand still.

If you have any photos or other information relating to the history of Bossier Parish, the History Center may be interested in adding the materials to its research collection by donation or by scanning them and returning the originals. Call or visit us to learn more. We are open M-Th 9-8, Fri 9-6, and Sat 9-5. Our phone number is (318) 746-7717 and our email is history-center@bossierlibrary.org. We can also be found online at https://www.facebook.com/BPLHistoryCenter/

Images: 

• Home shown in sales ad/The Shreveport Journal, Oct. 5, 1945
• Tommy Skiffington making a jump on his horse Rusty/The Shreveport Journal, Dec. 6, 1963

Article by: Kevin Flowers