Orange should stop focusing on tourism and concentrate on industry, according to some of the board members of the City of Orange Economic Development Corporation board of directors.
“I don’t believe we’re a tourist destination,” said David Meaux. He said the city needs to “build an industrial plan and let “quality of life follow that.”
City Councilor Pat Pullen commented “we’re not known for nothing.”
The corporation board of directors and members of the city council met in a workshop Tuesday morning with consultant John Johnson, a vice president with Griffith, Moseley and Johnson of Port Arthur. The board and council hired the firm last year to help the city on economic development.
Councilor Wayne Guidry questioned how many tourists come to Orange for all the effort that has been done. “Is it paying off?” he asked.
“I think the only people who truly love Orange and want to live here are the ones who were born and raised here,” he said.
So instead of working to attract tourists, the city should focus on the quality of life for residents, he said.
He also suggested the city make “a shift in begging for retailers to come to Orange” and focus on creating places where retailers want to locate. Places to focus for retailers are Interstate 10 and 16th Street, he said.
He asked whether anyone had talked to Shangri La about moving the gardens greenhouses from 16th Street, which is prime commercial real estate.
Councilor Larry Spears said the city should concentrate on 16th Street development because MacArthur Drive developments are in West Orange and Pinehurst. He also pointed out that Orange doesn’t have places to build new houses. He said the city needs to get the $200,000 and $300,000 houses that are being built in Bridgefield and Orangefield.
Councilor Pullen reiterated some of Spears’ comments on building new houses. He said the city needs to build more houses to provide more work for people in the construction trades. The city through the economic development corporation is currently giving $5,000 toward closing costs on new houses being built in Cypresswood Village subdivision off Highway 87 South. Pullen said he knows of no other city with that kind of plan.
Pullen also advocated building a “sports center” on Simmons Drive. Some of the best times of his life have been spent watching his children at ballparks, he said. Nearby Sulphur, Louisiana, “has been known for its ballparks.” He said Hispanics love to play soccer and “bring their whole families. They’ll bring 20 people.”
Councilor Bill Mello said the city needs “stuff for kids.”
Mayor Jimmy Sims said Orange doesn’t have activities for youth. He said he asked a 16-year-old boy what he does. The youth told him he and his friends go to Wal-Mart and play hide-and-go-seek.
Consultant Johnson said the city should get a youth focus group.
Mayor Sims, though, is not ready to stop developing tourism. He mentioned Branson, Missouri, and how that city had to start small.
-Margaret Toal, KOGT-
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