For Immediate Release
February 27, 2007
Media Contact: Ray Yonkura
(202) 225-2676
Jordan Hails Official Transfer of Parrott Army Reserve Center to Hardin County
Washington, DC -- Congressman Jim Jordan (R-Urbana) called today's transfer of the Jacob Parrott Army Reserve Center a major step forward for Hardin County's first responders.
Jordan participated in a Pentagon ceremony this morning to sign the formal certificate transferring the Parrott Center to the Hardin County Local Redevelopment Authority. County officials will relocate the Sheriff's Office and other emergency response units to the facility.
"Good things don't just happen--they take a lot of hard work," Jordan said at the event. "The commissioners and the Local Redevelopment Authority were proactive in forming a plan and worked diligently with the Army to make this transfer possible."
The Parrott Center was ordered closed during the 2005 Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC) round as part of an effort to consolidate Army Reserve facilities. Hardin County officials expressed immediate interest in acquiring the Center to house the Sheriff's Office, which currently operates out of a 120-year-old building.
"A lot of communities come out on the losing end of BRAC, but this is of huge benefit to both sides," Jordan noted. "The Army will save on maintenance and infrastructure costs, while we gain a new emergency response center to better serve and protect the people of Hardin County."
Jordan noted the work of former Congressman Mike Oxley to keep the project moving forward. Oxley twice met with top Pentagon officials to ensure swift action on the transfer.
Assistant Army Secretary Keith Eastin presided over the ceremony. He stated that the Parrott Center is the first of 387 Reserve facilities slated for closure under the 2005 BRAC round to be disposed of.
Secretary Eastin signed the transfer certificate on behalf of the Army. Jordan and Hardin County Commissioners Russell Ludwig and Gerald Potter signed on behalf of Hardin County.
Prior to the ceremony, Jordan met with Army officials in Eastin's office, located just yards away from where Flight 77 crashed into the Pentagon on September 11, 2001.
