Hanna promoted the decision to construct Interstate 49 through northwestern Louisiana. During his tenure, General Motors located a plant in Shreveport which later closed. Ground was broken for Expo Hall, and the stadium at the Louisiana Fair Grounds, location of the annual state fair, became the renovated Independence Stadium, at which numerous football teams, including Louisiana Tech University, occasionally played games. Some two weeks after becoming mayor, Hanna presented to legendary actor John Wayne, then in the last year of his life, the second annual "Spirit of Independence" Award, as part of the ceremonies at the annual Independence Bowl in Independence Stadium. He was succeeded as mayor by his fellow Democrat, the attorney John Brennan Hussey.