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Pendleton County navy base purchase falls through

SUGAR GROVE, W.Va. — The U.S. General Services Administration announced Tuesday that the high bidders for the former Navy Base were unable to complete the transaction.

The GSA plans “to engage the market through a re-offering of the Sugar Grove Station facility,” according to GSA publicist Sherrie Taylor.

The GSA will conduct a sealed bid competitive sale in which bidders mail in bids and bid deposits to GSA prior to the designated bid opening date and time.

On the bid opening date, all bids will be publicly opened and the highest bidder be declared.

GSA plans to conduct an open house in mid-October and a bid opening date in early November.

Pendleton County Commissioner Gene McConnell was disappointed that the sale was not closed and has no other information other than that.

“I’m disappointed that closure did not take place. If a nonprofit had won the bid, the county would have received no tax benefit. But if a for-profit business had bought the base, there would have been a significant tax benefit for our county,” McConnell said.

“But, my primary hope was that we could generate some good jobs for the county, whether it be a non or for-profit group,” he added.

The property was formerly a Navy Information Operations Command base with approximately 445,135 square feet of improvements, including 90 dwelling units, along with various office, maintenance and support facilities built in the late 1950s to the present.

It was fully maintained and occupied by military personnel until Sept. 30, 2015, when the Navy decommissioned it. Sugar Grove Station was described by the GSA as a well-maintained, practically self-sustaining community nestled in the West Virginia mountains within 200 miles of Washington/Baltimore, Pittsburgh, Raleigh/Durham and Roanoke, and abutting the George Washington National Forest.

The GSA considered it as ideal for a corporate training center, an academic campus, a treatment and rehabilitation center, a public safety training facility, a spa/clinic, a movie studio or a senior community housing/retreat.

The former base features 105 buildings including single and barracks housing, a public works building, a fire station, day care and youth activity centers and a gymnasium and a club/community center. Recreational opportunities include playgrounds, a swimming pool, ball courts/fields, a running track and fishing in the nearby South Fork River.

McConnell would still like to get the Veterans Administration to reconsider the base.

“My dream is a convalescent facility for veterans suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder. There is ample housing for the vets to get psychiatric help in an environment conducive to treatment in a county that is very sympathetic to veterans,” McConnell said.

“We need special treatment for those who have served in combat – the things they have seen and endured. We have a strong commitment to help these vets reintegrate into their former lives. I’m going to talk to anyone who will listen to get the VA interested,” McConnell said.

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