There are also plans for enhancements around Lake Buhlow directly across the highway.
You see, Teddy Ray Price is moving his corporate headquarters in Winnfield for Central Management Company (CMC), which operates 22 nursing homes throughout Louisiana, to Pineville, on the grounds of the former Central Louisiana State Hospital. He also has plans to build a state-of-the-art Hilltop Nursing Home on (get this) the hilltop beyond the 20,000-square-foot office area. Both projects represent an investment of $35 million.
Price said there are a few reasons he decided on the move. Many who work on the office staff are from Alexandria or Pineville and have had to commute to and from work. It’s also easier to recruit new workers from Alexandria and Pineville than from Winnfield. And, finally, it makes it more efficient to have Pineville as a home base than Winnfield since more of their business “takes them south rather than north” in Louisiana. Pineville was also closer to move to from Winnfield than Alexandria.
This move was made possible when Central began moving a reduced population of patients from its old location, which was built in 1906, to its new location off Esler Field Road. That’s on state property near the Louisiana Army National Guard grounds formerly known as Camp Beauregard. The new Central facility occupies 10 acres compared to its previous 500 acres.
The location change opened the possibility for the Pineville Downtown Development District to work with the state to “repurpose the land,” as Pineville Mayor Rich Dupree says, “for either commercial or residential purposes.” The city had its first such deal three years ago with the opening of the Y Not Stop on the interstate side of the old hospital grounds. And last year, Giles Hyundai relocated its new car dealership from Alexandria to Pineville, to the right of the Y Not Stop, just as you cross the Curtis-Coleman Bridge coming into Pineville.
Central’s location change also opened the opportunity to move water and sewer line services to the opposite side of the highway by Lake Buhlow. The newest additions by the lake are two beach volleyball courts, which will soon be open for play.
“We’ve been told that beach volleyball is very competitive in other areas and is very popular in north Louisiana and south Louisiana,” said Dupree. “This will bring folks to this area, not to mention the (Pineville) Municipal Airport, which is about to have a $2 million project to overlay the runway.” Money for that project, Dupree says, comes from the Louisiana Department of Transportation and Development’s Aviation Division.
Another possibility for the Lake Buhlow area is a restaurant beside the lake, which sounds as if Pineville could have its own version of Mariner’s or Tunk’s. Might even nurture a future Thoreau to write about “Buhlow Pond.”
“Multiple developers,” says Dupree, have inquired about the availability of a sub-lease to the property for such a dining experience.
We can dream. And this dreaming started with a site plan for Central Management Company from the architectural firm of Ashe, Broussard and Weinzettle.
“Development begets new development,” says Dupree, who offers another vision that some have already heard about but might be new to many of you.
It’s a retirement community. For folks 55 and older. Such an investment now is worth $60 million. “Prospects are on the table,” says Dupree, for this senior living area with 132 units. “We’re working with the state to find the right 22 acres to do that.”
And the location? On the grounds of the old Central State Hospital. Not far from the iconic Central Louisiana State Hospital Dairy Barn, recently renovated to its early 1920s luster.
They’re going to “milk” this renovation and expansion thing at Central for all its worth.
(Yet another project from Price’s company is the construction that started July 1 on the replacement for the Naomi Heights Nursing Home on Versailles Road in Alexandria, to be called Belle Grande, expected to be finished in 2026. It will be modeled after CMC’s Cypress Point Nursing Home in Bossier City.)