Maybe Bad News for South Texas

[Phil C]

I read that Naval Homeport in Ingleside and Naval Station Kingsville are very high on the list of closurers that will be decided this summer or early fall (I think). It sure would be a waste of money with what they have put in it on the Ingleside Home Port.
What it would probably mean is that Ingleside which has experienced growth the past several years may decline even though I hope I am wrong. It probably decreases Sinton's chances of being in Division 2 ever even though it might not cause too much damage till after they do the count in 2005. We will see.

[Old Cardinal]

Phil, I think with the war winding down a lot of facilities will be de-activated. I would be interestings as to which school districts will go up to 4A and which will most probably be dropping to 2A across Texas...
I hear that Barbers Hill is over 1300 in enrollment and will definately quality for 4A after next season. Who else?

[Phil C]

I don't think anyone in our district will change. Odem used to be in our district in 3A and they may join us again because the town is growing even though it might not join us until the 2007 realignment count.

[pirate44]

que sera sera

[sinton66]

I don't think Kingsville has a problem. It's one of the few remaining Naval jet training facilities in the country. It's mission centers around basic flight training for jet aircraft pilots. Because Kingsville's location is in close proximity to some high order practice ranges just to the west, it's a very handy base to have for the Navy. I could be wrong, but that's my feelings on the matter.

Ingleside, on the other hand, is a single mission base. Minesweeping as we currently know it will eventually be replaced by newer technology. Unless they find another mission such as national security, drug interdiction, search and rescue, and so forth, their days are probably numbered. That said, the newer technology is not quite ready just yet. NSI may last a few more years, but it's just a matter of timing.

[Stretch04]

If NSI closes it will hurt Ingleside but it will kill Gregory-Portland. They have a whole housing development there that is nothing but Navy people.

[AP Panther Fan]

Originally posted by Stretch04
If NSI closes it will hurt Ingleside but it will kill Gregory-Portland. They have a whole housing development there that is nothing but Navy people.

The same group did a public/private venture here in Aransas Pass. For those of you that came over for the softball/baseball games, it was directly across the street.

I also think that Ingleside is at risk; however, if the base does close something will replace it - think of Chase Field in Beeville, now a State Correctional Facility. NSI is prime waterfront property and some industry...whether it be another container facility or LNG plant will provide the area with job opportunities. JMHO ;)

[big daddy russ]

It doesn't look good for NSI. If they leave, Ingleside's economy will plummet and the house values will go down with them. I can think of at least four neighborhoods off the top of my head that are predominantly Navy families. Almost half the population (about 4,500 of Ingleside's and IOB's combined 10,500 people) came here through the base. That's a huge hit if they leave. My parents are worried about the neighborhood and the property value on their house. My dad's thinking about selling right now while the value is still high and using the equity to buy a smaller three bedroom house over in Portland or maybe Woodsboro. My mom's scared that the town will go to crap if the Navy leaves... she swears a bunch of gangs are going to move into town. :rolleyes: :rolleyes: I don't know if I'd go that far, but I know the Navy gives our little town a lot. When I was in HS eight short years ago our enrollment hovered in the 400-450 range and now we're supposed to be pushing 650.

Now there are supposed to be a couple of new plants coming into town, but that won't be for a 5 or 10 more years and won't supplant the economy if the Navy moves out within a couple of years.

[eagle.eyes]

OC, I don't know where you heard 1300 for BH. The numbers are actually somewhere between 920-930.