Is there still a Supercenter on the way?

It has been slightly more than a year since Wal-Mart's Tice White, Divisional Manager for Public Affairs, said the Bentonville, Ark.-based retailer had no plans to build a Supercenter in Bogalusa.


And just a day shy of six months ago, outgoing Mayor James "Mack" McGehee said the retailer would, indeed, build a SuperCenter in the Magic City.


“They signed a purchase agreement on the old Wade Tung Oil Plant property and they’re doing the environmental testing,” he told the Bogalusa newspaper last November 21. “Providing everything works out, they plan to open in 18 months.”

“We started this deal 10 years ago, and that’s the first site I took them to,” McGehee was quoted in the newspaper. “Then they went to the west side of town, the east side of town, the south side of town and ended up back at the original location.”

McGehee's announcement came two months after Wal-Mart completed a remodeling of its Shopyard Square store.

So, where are the smiley faces?

"I talked with them just the other day," current Bogalusa Mayor Charles Mizell told wpnewsblog. "They said their builder will be in here by June 1 to look at the site and if everything goes as planned, they'll start site preparation."

Mizell said he asked for a time frame on the project and was told about 12 months. "If they do it," he said, lifting his eyebrows as if in doubt, "I would think we would be talking about around July 1 (next year)."

Mizell said he hoped the retail giant would make a commitment to Bogalusa. "They've got SuperCenters all around us and if they don't build one here, I would be very concerned about their commitment to helping the community instead of pulling money out," he told wpnewsblog.

The property under consideration is located north of CVS. It is bounded on the south by Ontario Ave., on the east by Memorial Drive, on the north by Caswell Avenue and on the west by Sabine Drive.


(Published first at http://www.wpnewsblog.blogspot.com)