BATON ROUGE - Since Broadmoor Middle School's closure in 2019, vandalism has plagued the school and it has become an eyesore for residents.

In 2018, voters approved a $15 million tax plan for Broadmoor Middle. Now, the East Baton Rouge Parish School System is ready to revamp it by turning it into an E-Sports Arena and Multiplex Gym.

"It's going to be a state-of-the-art E-sports lab for our E-sports program, as well as an athletic facility for our elementary schools," Superintendent LaMont Cole said.

School officials say with over 50 E-Sports teams in the city-parish competing monthly, the enhancement will provide more space to host drone tournaments for students. It will also provide STEM programs.

"We think them being engaged with E-sports programming, it being a thriving industry, will lead to opportunities in terms of workforce development," Cole said.

As for the sports arena, it will be dedicated to elementary students. The facility will host basketball, volleyball, indoor soccer, and sports camps. It will also feature a track for schools to practice on.

School officials said they need a space to hold sporting events for younger ages.

"We don't have a facility big enough to hold it at any elementary site. So, we needed to use our high schools and middle schools to make it happen. This actual complex you have here will be a great asset to elementary sports," a school official said.

If approved by the school board and oversight committee, they hope to have it ready by 2027. Superintendent LaMont Cole says Broadmoor Middle will be abated to see if a demolition is needed.

"They're going to do an abatement process where they're going to examine the property and see what can be kept - if anything can be kept. But we recognize and know that there is enough money in the plan, if necessary, to demolish the entire facility and start over," Cole said.

The changes will go before the school board as a recommendation March 12. They will vote on the plan March 20, and the oversight committee will vote to approve it in May.