A new 60 thousand square foot fitness center is going up near the Ellsworth Airforce Base.
A groundbreaking for the project let officials tout a new generation of stealth planes that could bring 3,000 people to the area.
Ellsworth airmen and women use the Pride Hangar for physical fitness activities on base. Right now, it hosts an indoor track, AstroTurf field and fitness center. But soon, the building will serve a new purpose as home to the B-21 Raider.
Colonel Dan Hoadley is the vice wing commander for the 28th bomb wing. He says the new fitness center will be located off base and bring the Ellsworth and Box Elder communities closer.
“As that facility is displaced, the community has agreed to partner with us on building this facility,” Hoadley says. “It’ll be a one-for-one replacement for what we’re losing. We’re tremendously excited about the community partnership as well.”
The Liberty Center will cost $12.5 million. Half of the money is coming from the Department of Defense. The state is chipping in $3.2 million and Pennington County is adding another $2 million by way of a tax increment district.
The Liberty Center will be part of a new development called Liberty Plaza, which will establish another “downtown” in the city of Box Elder.
Scott Landguth is with the Ellsworth Development Authority. He says this is one of the first projects directly related to the B-21 expansion.
“It’s the one spot outside of the fence that we can guarantee every airman that comes through Ellsworth Airforce Base will set foot in, because they all have to do their required training there,” Landguth says. “The rest of the development, as a whole, will bring the amenities and quality of life, businesses, facilities, housing that the airmen and their families also need.”
In 2005, the Ellsworth Airforce Base was considered a candidate to shut down. Landguth says it’s much more exciting to expand.
A recently published environmental impact statement says Ellsworth is a preferred location for the first operational planes. Officials expect an official announcement on the B-21 Raider this spring.