Ravenna to get $2M barracks

Staff report

NEWTON FALLS

The Ohio National Guard will break ground Friday at 3:30 p.m. for new barracks and utilities upgrade projects at Camp Ravenna Joint Military Training Center.

The 7,940-square-foot, two-story barracks facility, at 1438 state Route 534 S.W., will accommodate 116 beds and includes laundry facilities and a supply room along with Internet connection. The $2 million project is scheduled for completion March 1, 2011.

The $1.6 million utilities upgrade project consists of the design and construction of water and sanitary sewers on Camp Ravenna. It is scheduled for completion in December 2010.

U.S. Rep. Tim Ryan of Niles, D-17th, was instrumental in securing funding for these and various other construction projects at the Ravenna facility and will join Maj. Gen. Gregory L. Wayt, Ohio adjutant general, for the event.

“These projects will not only help the local economy in the short term, they will continue to keep training dollars in Ohio well into the future,” Wayt said. “Instead of sending our Soldiers away for training, they will remain in Ohio to train at our own facilities.”

The Portage County commissioners and Neighborhood Development Services Inc. have agreed to share the costs of the upgrade, and the commissioners will bear operation and maintenance costs, ONG officials said.

During the ground-breaking ceremony, Ryan’s efforts in securing funding for several projects at the Ravenna training facility were recognized. They include a separate $1.8 million, 7,289-square-foot barracks building completed in January; a $1.5 million, 44,000- square-foot engineer schoolhouse renovation completed in December 2009; and an upcoming 5,500-square-foot, live-fire shoot house to train soldiers in the complexities of urban combat. Officials said the shoot house is scheduled for completion in 2011.