What a great article that was in the Farmerville Gazette that talks about the planned redevelopment of Folley Beach to be family friendly and include a combination boardwalk and bulkhead along over 1,000 feet of shoreline and restaurants. There will be sandy beaches with splash pad, possible rope courses and a hotel. Ready more below:
Gazette Staff Report
Growing up in Union Parish, Kerry Hill remembered the buzz of activity that surrounded Folley Beach over 40 years ago. For almost 15 years, he has kicked around the idea of purchasing the property and bringing it back to life.
Telling his mother that he and two partners had pulled the trigger on the project last year, let’s just say she was less than pleased. “’Oh heaven’s. No you’re not,’” was her response Hill said last week, drawing laughter from members of the Farmerville Lions Club. “I assured her our plans weren’t anything like the way it used to be.”
Along with Ronnie Prudhomme of Lafayette and Darren Balsamo of Sterlington, Hill is hoping that within 12 months the first phase of the redevelopment completed. Hill said three acres of original nine-acre site developed by Ben Post in the 1960s has literally washed back into the lake. In order to complete the tie in with what the site used to be, the partners realized they would need to try and recreate the beach. It wouldn’t be cost effective, they determined, to reclaim the entire lost acreage nor to have it wash back away from the shore. Initial plans call for construction of a combination boardwalk and bulkhead along over 1,000 feet of the shoreline and a restaurant. A 6,000-square foot “beach market store” will also include a fast food outlet.
When one of the Lions Club members said it should be a Dairy Queen, Hill replied, “That’s a good guess.” A one-acre sandy, beach-like area will have splash pads found in water parks and possibly a ropes course that have become popular features at family-type developments across the country.
Area financial institutions, Hill said, have also expressed “a strong interest” in locating a bank branch at the site. The master plan for the property shows a multi-story hotel on the site. When the partners first started mapping out their plans for development, they figured a 40-50-bed hotel would be adequate. A detailed demographic study showed that 65 rooms would be more in order. “We initially thought we would do that within three years,” Hill said. “Now we want to complete it as quickly as we can.” Before the hotel phase of the project starts, the Louisiana Department of Transportation and Development will require an update to a traffic study to determine if a left turn lane will be needed to handle traffic entering the development. “That would be a good problem to have,” Hill said.
Contact me today for more information or visit www.bluebayouproperties.com. Brandi Chambless, RE/MAX Premier Realty, 318-789-5986.