New life is being brought into a once-thriving area of north Lake Charles that has experienced in recent years increasingly emptying shopping centers, restaurants, banks and retail stores.

Associated Builders and Contractors announced Monday their plans to open a training center in the old Walgreens building at the corner of Gerstner Memorial Boulevard and 12th Street.

Hunter said the majority of the project is being funded through disaster recovery money the city received after Hurricanes Laura and Delta devastated the area in 2020.

“When we use disaster recovery dollars we have to be very careful to try and effect what’s called an LMI area, a low-to-moderate income area. This area does qualify,” he said. “We know this stretch of Highway 14 has seen better days so we wanted to do something that was going to make an impact over here.”

ABC President and CEO David Helveston said the facility is expected to train several hundred students annually in trades such as carpentry, welding, electrical, pipefitting and millwright.

“This is a project that we’ve discussed for several years now and we appreciate the steadfast support of not only investing in an older building but investing in the people of Lake Charles,” Helveson said. “That’s what it’s all about.”

Graduates of the program will be able to work in residential and commercial construction as well as industry throughout the area, he said.

Already, ABC offers a training location in Westlake with about 500 students enrolled.

“We’re already on one side of the river and this is a great spot for us strategically to access communities off of Interstate 210,” Helveson said. “We serve the industry so students will be able to take entry-level courses to get their foots in the door and begin their careers.”

He said the average age of their students are 18-30 and “people who may have done the four-year college route and decided ‘this wasn’t for me’ and are looking for other options. The construction industry is just a wonderful option for so many in this area. The sky is the limit if you enter the construction industry in the near future.”

Both day and evening classes are offered.

“We wanted to do something that was going to have quite an impact on the community and workforce development,” Hunter said. “Giving people the skills to make a career is obviously something that is a worthwhile endeavor.”

Architect Randy M. Goodloe said the location already has “good bones.”

“All of the issues created by the storms have already been taken care of,” Goodloe said. “It’s a substantial building and it’s wide open right now so it will fit their needs really easily.”

Helveson said when the center opens, students will experience hands-on lab training.

“They won’t be sitting there with a textbook in their hands, it’s the hands-on lab space that will really impact them and what they will see everyday out there.”

City Council member Rodney Geyen, who represents the district in which the center will be located, said workforce and economic development is key for this area.

“This program will get high school kids who maybe aren’t going anywhere to go somewhere,” Geyen said. “It’ll also attract companies that wouldn’t come to Lake Charles because of the lack of training. This offers that training.”

Geyen said he expects the center to create a domino effect in the area with other businesses following ABC’s lead and coming to build around it.

“We need to keep this part of the city and this district alive so this is a very, very important program to us and I’m so happy that it’s coming,” he said.