Panda Meander teams 5K run, talent show
April 2, 2007Hazel Pitre
April 4, 2007
State officials are saying that an 80- to 85-acre complex may be constructed near the intersection of La. 311 and U.S. 90 in north Terrebonne Parish to house new facilities for the Houma and Thibodaux branches of the Louisiana National Guard, the State Police Troop C station now in Gray, and L.E. Fletcher Technical Community College in Houma, according to state Sen. Reggie Dupree of Houma.
Dupree said, however, that “the entire proposal is still very conceptual.”
Each of the buildings would be located separately near one another within the complex site, he said.
The facilities currently housing the National Guard n Charlie Company in Houma and the Delta Company in Thibodaux, Troop C, and Fletcher need more room for expansion, he said.
“The armories in Houma and Thibodaux are in residential areas,” Dupree said. “It’s not conducive to military operations. We believe it would be more beneficial for them to be located in a more remote area.”
The Houma and Thibodaux armories would be consolidated into one facility at the new site, he said.
“Troop C is on a small piece of property, and can’t grow,” he said.
Similarly, the community college “is located across from Houma Jr. High on a six-acre site owned by the Terrebonne Parish School Board,” Dupree said. “Fletcher is one of the fastest-growing, small community colleges in the U.S.”
He said that the Houma and Thibodaux National Guard armories, and the Fletcher building are both over 45 years old. In addition, “Troop C is one of the oldest trooper (stations) in the state,” he said.
State officials are in the process of trying to secure funding to construct the complex, Dupree said.
“We’ve had discussions with the Chamber of Commerce, Sen. (David) Vitter, Sen. (Mary) Landrieu, and Congressman (Charlie) Melancon to get federal funds for the purchase of land,” he said. “There’s always a possibility of a state surplus allocated to secure the site.”
“It’ll be a federal, state combination (of funds to build the complex),” he said.
Dupree said that he would focus more on state government to secure money for a new Fletcher campus, and more on having Vitter, Landrieu, and Melancon push for federal funding for the new National Guard Readiness Center (which is replacing the name “armory”).
National Guard Maj. Gen. Hunt Downer said the new National Guard site would serve as a signal company or communications hub for the area. Soldiers would be trained in the communication and electronics fields including satellite communications, he said.
The Houma and Thibodaux armories would revert to their previous landowners and all three units would be housed in the new facility. “We would have to look at the property,” Downer said. “Some was donated and some was acquired.”
In addition to providing much-needed room to move troops and equipment into the area in the event of an emergency, Downer said the Houma site would be equipped with a secure video telecommunications system with satellite backup.
“Just think of how important and useful it would be to have video teleconferencing over a secure network,” he said, noting the network would be available to the National Guard, law enforcement and other emergency responders. “This is a win-win for everyone.”
Downer said the project could serve as model for the rest of the country. “We’re building smarter and better, thinking for the future,” he said. “This isn’t rocket-science. It’s what happens when everyone comes together at the table and thinks regionally. It’s a win for the whole area.”
And with the Interstate 49 link, the Houma-based hub will be even more vital to the state, Downer said. “Once that interstate is completed, the dynamics of everything will have shifted,” he said, noting the accessibility the one-stop facility will offer.
“The congressional delegation will be asking for funds from the federal government for the military component (at the site), the National Guard,” said Col. Douglas Mouton, the Louisiana National Guard’s director of facilities and engineering.
The estimated cost for the National Guard component of the complex is $18 million, Mouton said.
The federal government would pay $15 million for the Guard facility, and the state $3 or $4 million, he said. Mouton is hoping for a year 2010 or 2011 completion date for the new Guard facility.
The cost to buy the land and construct the buildings for the entire complex is either unknown, or “may still be confidential,” Dupree said.
The area surrounding the intersection of La. 311 and U.S. 90 will soon be experiencing significant economic growth, said Candy Theriot, president and CEO of the Houma Terrebonne Chamber of Commerce.
The area is “all fields now,” Theriot said, “but development is getting ready to go. The potential for industry is tremendous in that corridor.”
Since the area is “on a major future interstate corridor (U.S. 90), industry can get products out quickly,” she said.
“British Petroleum is building a huge warehouse facility (near the intersection which will be) their headquarters for the whole continental U.S.,” Dupree said. “There’s talk of BP bringing in a training facility (to the area).”
“It’s a valuable piece of property,” he said. “The site is the largest available land in south central Louisiana which is close to an interchange of a four-lane highway. At that intersection, you’re within an hour’s driving distance of a population of 300,000.”
Dupree said that locating Fletcher Community College close to the businesses that will soon be building in the area is a strong idea.
“If their employees need math or English credits, these businesses would have Fletcher nearby,” he said. “Fletcher could do the training.”
The new community college site nearer Lafourche Parish “will help bring in students from Lafourche,” Theriot added.
Dupree said also that “combining” the public facilities on a single site can provide “crossover” benefits “for infrastructure.”
“The parking lot (at the complex) may be needed by the National Guard for the weekend,” he said, “while Fletcher Community College may need it for weekdays.”
The land near the intersection of U.S. 90 and La. 311 is at a “high elevation,” Dupree said. “There is protection from a tidal surge. We wouldn’t have to evacuate the National Guard and the State Police if it floods.”
“The National Guard will be on a major corridor,” Theriot said. “They can leave in any direction in an emergency. We need the National Guard to be able to disperse quickly.”
Dupree said there is a chance that a regional Emergency Operations Center would be located within the complex, but that this “fourth possibility is the most conceptual.”
The new center would house emergency operations for “parish and municipal governments, sheriff’s offices, and police departments,” he said.
The center “would be a smaller version of the emergency operations center headquarters in Baton Rouge,” he said. “It’s a huge room where these agencies have their separate spaces.”
The land around the area of the proposed complex has been largely “privately-owned and used to grow sugar cane,” Theriot said, which explains why the prime location has never been developed economically.
“It’s location that’s driving this effort more than anything,” Dupree said.
