SPRINGHILL, La. (AP) -- Officials are holding out hope that a Georgia-Pacific plywood plant and sawmill that was shut down here in January might someday come on line again, but there remains no immediate hope of re-employment for the 400 people who lost jobs there.

 

Georgia-Pacific is not terming the shutdown as a permanent closure, as was the case in October with a G-P plant in Logansport. At a meeting Tuesday attended by more than 200 of the Springhill plant's workers, a company official said the Springhill plant is being ''indefinitely idled.''

 

''By indefinitely idling, we've got the flexibility to bring it back up if market conditions improve to the point that we need more production capacity,'' corporate spokeswoman Julie Davis said.

 

In Springhill, a small crew will be retained to maintain the machinery in case it's put back on line, Davis said. ''We certainly wish there were other options.''