Luxury tour bus company brings shelter to Lake Area crews

LAKE CHARLES, La. (KPLC) - This year has been a difficult one for businesses across the country, but one company out of Nashville, Tennessee, is in Lake Charles providing shelter to some of the crews in the area, hoping it will also help them stay afloat.

Countless companies and contractors are in Lake Charles offering various services to residents and crews while clean up and rebuilding continues.

“We didn’t know how bad it was or what to expect, but we came in ready to help. We started talking to crews, and we started building relationships with different companies, and as we came in, we saw that there is obviously a need.”

Jamison Strain, owner of Caldwell Coaches, says when he first arrived he saw the huge need for lodging.

He brought over 14 of his luxury entertainment tour buses, and he made them available for lease in the Lake Charles area.

“They’re here and they are boots on the ground first, and so, they immediately start working. A lot of these companies haven’t figured out housing yet.”

Now, some of the workers who may have traveled from out of town to help out are living in luxury after a long day’s work.

Strain says normally this wouldn’t be possible.

“All of these coaches this time of the year would be out with entertainers and with bands.”

He says his business took a big hit due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

“On March 12, our entire industry was shut down. I was on a tour called Winter Jam, we were in Louisville Kentucky, and we got sent home that day because of COVID. It shut everything down and we’ve not seen work since the middle of March.”

Strain says while he wishes it was under better circumstances,  he’s glad to be able to offer his buses to the people who are working tirelessly rebuilding Lake Charles.

Strain says he and his team anticipate being in the area for at least another month, but he says they’re also monitoring Hurricane Sally in other states.

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