John Preston, front left, a surveyor with American Bureau of Shipping, and Bo-D Massey, right, a production manager with LeTourneau, chat while the keel is put into place of a new drilling rig Tuesday morning.(Jenny Sevcik The Vicksburg Post)

[10/15/03]The president and CEO of LeTourneau’s parent company made it clear Tuesday: His company will leave Vicksburg unless the city’s nearby airport continues operating.

“We don’t want to move the shipyard,” said Danny McNease, president and CEO of Houston-based Rowan Companies Inc., “but the airport is a very important resource to LeTourneau.”

McNease and Donald Cross, head of LeTourneau’s Vicksburg division, discussed the importance of Vicksburg to the company with community and business leaders Tuesday. After the meeting, the floor, or keel, was laid for the Tarzan II, a new offshore jackup drilling rig that will have a 9,000-horsepower drilling capacity and be able to drill about 30,000 feet into the earth’s surface.

McNease said the rig will probably be used in the Gulf of Mexico.

Vicksburg Municipal Airport, off U.S. 61 South a few miles north of the LeTourneau assembly area, is vital for the company, McNease said. He said if something happens to one of their rigs located around the globe, LeTourneau must be prepared to respond immediately.

If the company left, it would take about 1,100 jobs and local tax dollars with it, McNease said.

“We hope that never happens,” he said. “That’s why we’re working with the city.”

Cross said progress is being made with the city since a public hearing has been set for 10 a.m. Oct. 28. The hearing is the first step by the city to apply for a $650,000 Community Development Block Grant. Gov. Ronnie Musgrove has provided a letter saying he’d back giving the money to the city.

But Vicksburg officials had been reluctant to seek the grant because they would break a pledge to Tallulah, Warren County and Madison Parish, to only support the newer airport they jointly own at Mound. Vicksburg-Tallulah Regional was conceived in 1983 as a replacement facility for Vicksburg Municipal, but has been in political, legal and financial entanglements since.

City officials say they’ve gotten a verbal OK from representatives in Louisiana, but that holding the hearing does not guarantee the money.

“I have not made any commitment to that airport at all,” said Mayor Laurence Leyens.

In 1998, a previous city administration voted 2-1 to close the municipal airport, about five years after VTR became functional. Closure was postponed when 18 local businesses and business owners sued the city. Years of litigation ended last year when the Mississippi Supreme Court overruled the Warren County Circuit Court, allowing the city to rethink or enforce its vote to close the older airport.

During the litigation, the plaintiffs, including LeTourneau, operated the airport. Since July 1, Vicksburg Municipal Airport has operated under a month-to-month contract by a private airport manager.

McNease has said the city, not the plaintiffs, should operate the airport, period, and negotiations have ensued.

LeTourneau has been in Vicksburg for 61 years, but shut down after building about 50 rigs. The company reopened in 1995, and has since built three of its largest class of rigs, selling for about $200 million each.

LeTourneau and Rowan executives have said the decision to reopen was based partially on the city’s assurances the airport would stay open.

Bob Fant, LeTourneau’s human resources director, said the company helps the city with tax dollars and area families by providing jobs. For example, he said, when he found out the Bruce Hardwood flooring plant in Port Gibson closed, he was ready to welcome some new employees.

“I drove down there with a stack of applications,” Fant said.