BATON ROUGE — This week in WBRZ history, Death Valley was forever reshaped. 

The east side addition of Tiger Stadium was completed and ready for fans on Sept. 2, 2000, after a $50 million construction project. 

The new addition added 11,000 seats, including 70 luxury suites. 

Discussions to expand the stadium came four years earlier, after the Tigers went 9-3 in 1997 and 10-2 in 1996. 

But a stretch of four losses in 1998 dropped LSU out of the top 25, leading into 1999's 3-8 season.

But after Coach Gerry DiNardo left the team in time for the new millennium, it was the dawn of a new day in Death Valley, ushering in both construction crews on the east side of the stadium and a new era of LSU football that would lead to three National Championships in the 21st century.

Watch more WBRZ history here: