White: La. should buy Lamar-Dixon
Print
Email
Save
Reprints
Twitter
Share
Del.icio.us
Digg
Facebook
Reddit
- Page 1 of 3
- SINGLE PAGE VIEW
A Central lawmaker wants the state to consider buying Lamar-Dixon Expo Center for a hurricane staging area or a shelter of last resort.
The state needs “hard sites” to reduce the reliance on other states and to return evacuees home more quickly, state Rep. Bodi White said Thursday.
White, R-Central, said the state probably could buy the center for $7 million and lease it for events unless a hurricane is looming.
He made the suggestion Thursday at a meeting of the Joint Select Committee on Homeland Security.
At least one legislator was critical of the idea.
State Rep. Ernest Wooton, R-Belle Chasse, said Hurricane Gustav hammered the Ascension Parish facility.
“Lamar-Dixon got the hell hit out of it,” he said. “You don’t need to ride out a hurricane.”
White acknowledged that a storm shelter south of Interstate 10 generally is a bad idea.
He said the center could serve as a last resort shelter when a hurricane threatens the western part of the state.
Other times, White said, the state could use the center as a staging area for emergency response efforts after a hurricane hits.
Earlier this month, Ascension Parish voters rejected a proposal to buy the facility for $7.5 million.
The parish’s lease of the facility expires in June, and the facility’s owners plan to cut off the electricity and close the building.
Three years ago, 2,000 evacuees sheltered in the facility during Hurricane Katrina. Relief workers used the building more recently as a staging area during Hurricane Gustav.
- NEXT PAGE »
- 1
- 2
- 3
 | ||||
| Most Popular | Most Emailed | Hot Topics | ||
