NEW LONDON (TYLER MORNING TELEGRAPH) -- New London students had everything they needed and more.
Athletes used a whirlpool, a handball court was in the gym, everyone got a letter jacket, and each band instrument was furnished. Ball players enjoyed chicken fried steak after away games.
The community was coming off the big oil boom of the 1930s and 1940s, when the school district was known as one of the richest in the state.
It was a completely different picture than last year, when elementary students quickly shuffled out cafeteria doors after they ate, passing by columns with missing tiles. Half of the facility was vacant, but it would only be minutes before more children poured in to take over any empty chairs.
The remaining students finished eating, some on paper plates because the one working drain in the kitchen couldn't handle a lot of dishwashing. At one point, at least one student covered his ears to block out the noise.
Now, community and school officials anticipate that West Rusk County Consolidated ISD will get a push toward revitalization when a refinery project comes online.
The refinery will be on a site off Texas Highway 323, 1.25 miles southeast of New London. Current processing equipment in Longview will be relocated to Rusk County, upgraded and restarted.
Plans for the project, which has been in the works for about 18 months, are to produce 30,000 barrels per day of light sweet crude and produce gasoline and diesel fuel.
"The basic concept of that project is to take crude oil that is relatively local and available and produce gasoline and diesel as a result," said Kelley Holcomb, general manager for the Angelina and Neches River Authority,
the conduit bond issuer for the project.
An estimated 300 to 400 jobs will come to the area during the approximately two-year construction period, and up to 85 high-paying, full-time jobs are expected at the site when the refinery is operational. During the next decade, the economic impact of the project is estimated at $8 billion, according to a presentation made earlier this year. The immediate economic impact, including construction and sales tax on local materials, is estimated at $384 million.
"I think it's going to be great for the community, the county and the surrounding areas," New London Mayor Dale McNeel said by phone.
An area that started out agricultural.
Pictured is construction of the new stadium in West Rusk County Consolidated ISD. The stadium, which is part of a bond issue that voters approved in November, is expected to be completed in the next two or three weeks.
