Jefferson R-7 on James Hardie Announcement

(Festus) The news is out that James Hardie manufacturing plans on building a 1.25 million square foot plant in Crystal City.

The plant will be built on the Festus airport property which resides in the Jefferson R-7 School District.

Jefferson schools Superintendent Clint Johnston says the announcement of Project Redbird was very much welcomed by the school district.

With the announcement of James Hardie building its facility in the Jefferson R-7 District, it will be a tax revenue generator for the school district.

The James Hardie announcement comes at a good time with the news that Ameren Missouri’ Rush Island Power Plant is slated to close at some point in the future.

With the loss of the power plant the Jefferson R-7 School District would possibly lose out on more than $1.8-million dollars annually.

The Rush Island Energy Center located in southeast Jefferson County and is now scheduled to close sometime in 2024 if not 2025.

Goodwin Brothers Construction of St. Louis is set to start building the James Hardie facility in April of next year with construction expected to be completed in 2025.