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State funding will repurpose YARS cargo building
By Sean Barron
VIENNA
A largely dormant cargo building at the Youngstown Air Reserve Station is on the cusp of being repurposed for a variety of uses and promises to be an economic boon to the Mahoning Valley, several area lawmakers contend.
“This will mean huge economic benefits to our area,” said state Rep. Sean J. O’Brien of Bazetta, D-63rd, referring to the 24,650-square-foot facility at 1546 Ridge Road off King Graves Road.
O’Brien was among area lawmakers who spoke at a news conference Thursday in the building about Senate Bill 390, which passed Wednesday evening and will allocate $250,000 in state funds to buy the facility, which will be used mainly for loading and discharging cargo and troops, O’Brien noted.
In addition, the building will act as a staging and response area in the event of an emergency in the region, he said.
O’Brien added the Trumbull County air base is the area’s third-largest employer and that the building will augment the base’s military capabilities.
Also, the effort was a collaboration among the Western Reserve Port Authority, the Youngstown/Warren Regional Chamber, Eastern Gateway Community College, the village of Lordstown, Trumbull County commissioners and YARS.
The Federal Emergency Management Agency, along with local American Red Cross chapters and EMA agencies, will be among the entities able to set up and operate from the building in case of a major crisis.
The facility also will provide added aeronautical use, noted Col. James Dignan, commander of the 910th Airlift Wing, which operates from the base.
“We will be able to grow our mission and further cement our viability,” Dignan said, adding that a few land-use issues need to be worked out. “This is a perfect example of how the Valley comes together when it needs to.”
If all goes accordingly, the building, which has seen little use for more than a decade, also will be one of the country’s six deployment hubs for thousands of military personnel of all branches, noted state Rep. John Boccieri of Poland, D-59th.
Boccieri also served in the Air Force Reserves, including deployments during Operations Enduring Freedom and Iraqi Freedom.
Boccieri added he expects Gov. John Kasich to sign the legislation within a week.
State Sen. Joe Schiavoni of Boardman, D-33rd, said he was part of a group that brought back ideas from having visited Wright-Patterson Air Force Base near Dayton, along with others throughout the state, for growing YARS.
“This is good for the whole Valley,” Lordstown Mayor Arno Hill said.
Making additional remarks and praising the effort were state Rep. Michele Lepore-Hagan of Youngstown, D-58th; state Rep. Michael J. O’Brien of Warren, D-64th; and Dan Dickten, the Western Reserve Port Authority’s director of aviation, who called the purchase of the cargo building “a win for the port authority, a win for the air reserve station and a win for the community.”