URBANA — The United States Coast Guard is looking for potential sites for a new training center, and Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine thinks that it should be in the Miami Valley.
The Former Urbana University property has been vacant for years. The school closed in the Spring of 2020. DeWine believes the former university campus may have what the Coast Guard wants.
Holly Wright of Urbana said, “All those rooms and stuff that they need to have for college kids are all going to waste.”
A proposal from the state could give the property new life.
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DeWine wrote a letter to Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem and said he thinks Ohio should be home to the U.S. Coast Guard’s next training facility.
The governor released the letter on social media two months after DHS and the Coast Guard released this video.
As part of a press release, the agencies said they were asking for information “to identify prospective locations for an additional training center.”
DeWine listed things like dorms, a cafeteria, and an indoor swimming pool as selling points for the former Urbana University.
The land also includes several more things that the Coast Guard said it’s looking for in a potential training center site.
According to its website, there are six Coast Guard stations in Ohio, all on Lake Erie.
The one in Cleveland is a regional headquarters for the service branch.
A training facility in Urbana would be at least the seventh Coast Guard facility in Ohio.
Michael Mullin of Dayton said, “It’s all a part of our national security, and that would be good to develop something like that.”
News Center 7 will continue to follow this story and will report when there’s a decision on Gov. DeWine’s pitch and proposal for the former university property.
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