Is Louisiana’s First Buc-ee’s Still On Track to Open in 2025?

It was in January of this year that Buc-ee's made the huge announcement that they were finally coming to Louisiana!

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Though, for us in the Shreveport/Bossier area, it was somewhat of a bittersweet announcement when we heard the travel center giant would not be coming to our corner of Louisiana, but sixty miles down the road in Ruston, Louisiana.

At that time, Buc-ee's was putting the final touches on a deal to purchase an 84-acre tract of land across from Ruston Junior High School and were in hopes to finalize construction of their 53,000 square foot campus which will include 120 gas pumps and their famous restrooms, drink fountains and shopping experience by early 2025.

However, in March of this year, it was announced that there would be a slight delay to the beginning of the construction of this new beaver town and that would push the opening until about the middle of 2025.

For those inquiring minds dying to know exactly where the project stands today, the Louisiana Radio Network has just reported that everything is on track and the travel center giant is still committed to beginning construction in 2024 and opening in 2025.

According to Ruston Mayor, Ronny Walker, the city's request of $15 million to be used to finance the project has been approved by the Bond Commission.

Walker stated, “We wanted to go ahead and get all the money in place so that when they do approve the plans which we hope will be quickly, we can also start very quickly on the development.”

The price tag needed to secure this deal is incredibly pricey with $15 million from the bond commission, $6 million from the state, and another expected $6 million from Congress to fund the construction of service roads, interchanges, and other associated charges, but Mayor Walker believes there will be a good return on the investment.

Walker says, “From gasoline tax but also sales tax, so it’s basically a no brainer from their standpoint because they will be receiving their $6 million that they are putting in will be coming back to them in less than six years.”