A second tour to give prospective buyers the chance to inspect facilities at the former Navy Information Operations Command support base at Sugar Grove in Pendleton County will take place Thursday, according to the U.S. General Services Administration, which is conducting an online auction for the 122.8-acre property.
Tours will be provided by appointment only from 9:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. To register, send an email to susanb.webb@gsa.gov.
The base, which opened in the mid-1950s and closed last September, was West Virginia's only active duty military installation. In its early years, it served as the site of a Naval Research Laboratory radio-telescope used for communications research, then transitioned into a Naval Radio Station, handling Atlantic fleet communications chores, before focusing on electronic intelligence duties as a Naval Security Group Activity, and in its final role, as a unit of the Navy Information Operations Command.
Before the base was turned over to the GSA for auction, it had been eyed for reuse as a women's prison by the state Division of Corrections - a plan that was shot down by Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin for its high conversion and operational costs - and by KVC Health Systems, which hoped to develop the site into a training center for young adults who have aged out of the foster care system.
The GSA is marketing the facility as Sugar Grove Station, "essentially a self-contained, impeccably maintained small town in which 400 people could live comfortably," according to the agency's real estate website.
The former Navy base includes 105 structures, including 80 single-family housing units, a dormitory-style former housing unit for single enlisted personnel that includes 53 two-room suites, a retail complex, fitness center, community building, dining hall, bowling alley, fire and police stations, 10 recreational cabins, and an administration building, in addition to a swimming pool, soccer field, track and tennis courts.
A video on Sugar Grove Station that appears on the GSA real estate website, www.realestatesales.gov, describes the former military base as an excellent site for a corporate training center, retreat facility or educational complex.
Reach Rick Steelhammer at
rsteelhammer@wvgazettemail.com, 304-348-5169 or follow
@rsteelhammer on Twitter.