Shreveport Bought This Building 7 Years Ago & It’s Still Sitting Empty

With the recent news that the City of Shreveport had purchased a major parcel of land in west Shreveport with plan to move its public works departments to the 60 acre location, one small fact seemed to go unmentioned. In 2015 the city spent nearly $2 million with the same idea in mind.

So the question is, what do we do with the old building and why has it sat, untouched, for nearly seven years.

How Shreveport Got the Building

Records show that in July 2015, in the early days of the Ollie Tyler administration, the city paid $1.8 million for the Foremost plant on Interstate Drive near Shreveport. Regional Airport. The plan was to relocate the city's Water & Sewerage facility to that location.

So Who in City Government Thought This Was a Good Idea?

But why was the move never made? The current administration says it's all about the money.

A statement on that situation Monday from Shreveport City Hall: "The current administration discovered it would cost more than $20 million to renovate the property. At this time, we are in discussions with other City departments to determine the best use for the Foremost Dairy site."

And meanwhile citizens are left to speculate why Mayor Tyler spent city money on the Foremost facility knowing about the massive renovation cost, or perhaps worse, without finding out pre-purchase.

Shreveport Mayor Perkins Moves Forward with His Own Plan

At the same time, the Perkins administration is moving ahead with its plan to centralize Shreveport public works departments at the new, massive W. 70th Street property that was once the home of BJ Energy Services. Mayor Perkins signed that purchase agreement in November of last year. That $9.5 million purchase was made with money from Water & Sewer Department bond funds.