PINEVILLE, La. (KALB) – Pineville Mayor Rich Dupree is excited about the major improvements coming to the city.
“Pineville is in a great location here on the north side of the river. It’s where growth is going to happen over the next 10 to 15 years,” Dupree said.
One major change is the relocation of the Central State Hospital to a brand new building in the heart of the city. This new hospital will feature the latest medical technology and provide better patient care. It will also create new jobs and help boost the local economy.
Dupree said the hospital’s relocation was critical to future development.
“There’s not a lot of infrastructure to the lake, and we’re hoping to extend that from the hospital side of the property, where the water and sewer are, to get better service across the highway and to the lake,” he said. “We couldn’t do that until the hospital moved, and now that they’ve moved, we have the opportunity to extend the sewer service and the water service, so we can attract a restaurant, so we can attract other things that want to build on the lake, but we didn’t have the infrastructure there to do that.”
Another major project is the remodeling of Buhlow Lake. The lake will soon have a new recreation area with restaurants, a competition beach, and a volleyball court. The new landscaping will make the lake more beautiful and enjoyable for everyone.
“We’re working on things that are part of the state property that the city leases,” he said. “That’s where the municipal airport is. We’re working on a couple of beach volleyball competition courts that would have a beach component. We’re trying to find the right restaurant to build on the lake. That’s part of our vision, too. We’re working on a couple of other side projects around the lake.”
Dupree emphasized the importance of teamwork in making these changes happen.
“The biggest thing that had to happen was the hospital relocation, and this has been talked about for over 20 years now,” he said. “Now that it’s finally relocated, we have an opportunity to make some things happen on both the Central State Hospital side and the Lake Buhlow side through our downtown Pineville development district, through great collaboration with our legislative delegation and the synergy of other developments that have already taken place.”
With these exciting developments, Pineville looks forward to a brighter future with better amenities and growth.
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