Groundbreaking held in Morgan City for emergency operations center

Groundbreaking ceremonies for the $10 million Governmental Operations and Emergency Center were held Tuesday in Morgan City.
The site for the center is located on La. 182 adjacent to the Morgan City Municipal Auditorium. The building can serve as an emergency command center during events such as hurricanes and also will house tenants from governmental agencies on a day-to-day basis.
Morgan City Harbor and Terminal Director Raymond “Mac” Wade said the groundbreaking is the culmination of six years of discussion. The Deepwater Horizon oil spill of 2010 and the flood of 2011 made it apparent that such a facility was vital to residents, businesses, first responders and the region, Wade said. Morgan City — and its auditorium —historically have been used as a staging area for emergency response in disasters such as hurricanes.
The local legislative delegation of Sen. Bret Allain, Rep. Sam Jones and Rep. Joe Harrison worked tirelessly to secure over $7 million from the state for the project, Wade said.
Kristy Nichols, the state commissioner of administration, agreed, saying the local delegation “really have been your true advocates.”
She said the operations center will be critical in the event of a disaster, supporting the port, oil and gas operations and housing local emergency operations. She said it was critical to keeping a Coast Guard presence in Morgan City.
Allain, R-Franklin, expressed his gratitude to Nichols and the governor’s office for giving the delegation time to explain why the birth of the center in St. Mary Parish is so important.
Wade credited Allain with the “heavy lifting” concerning the governor’s office.
Jones, D-Franklin, credited the positive working relationship with Allain for the consolidated effort to get the funding.
“You’ve just got to dream big. You have to have a purpose. You have to have a goal, and the port did just that,” Jones said.
The entire project budget is fixed at slightly more than $10 million. The project is funded with $7.1 million from the state and a roughly $2.3 million match from the Port of Morgan City. The commission also previously approved an additional $400,000 in port funds to be used, if necessary. The City of Morgan City donated a section of the property for the building through a cooperative endeavor agreement.
Acadiane Renovations, the contractor for the first phase of work, already completed work to prepare the site for construction, Wade said. The contracted completion date for the center is projected for the middle of October 2015, though Wade hopes to occupy it by mid-September to Oct. 1, Wade said.
The district received construction bids Nov. 20 and will award the contract to low qualified bidder, M.D. Descant LLC, toward the end of this week after receiving state approval Monday, Wade said.
The 36,000-square-foot facility, designed by Architect Carl Blum, will include room for two tenants and a conference room that can seat 100 people and can also be divided into three smaller conference rooms. The center will have designated sleeping space for 10 to 12 people, but can house more people, if needed, in the conference room. It will be able to withstand hurricanes, Jones said.
Jones hinted that the construction of the project could be the start of something big.
“Somewhere in the ’70s and ’80s it kind of got lost. I remember (then-Mayor Tim Matte) said, ‘we’ve lost our swagger.’ I think this is one step in the return of getting that swagger back,” Jones said.