Report: SAFB considered for new spy agency office since 2005

SCOTT AIR FORCE BASE, Ill. (AP) - Proposed plans to relocate a federal spy agency's new regional headquarters from downtown St. Louis to Illinois' Scott Air Force Base have been around for over a decade, according to a newspaper report.

The news comes as Illinois and Missouri are competing to house the new National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency. The roughly $1.6 billion project is expected to create thousands of jobs.

A copy of the minutes from a 2005 meeting of top Pentagon leaders show they considered only the Illinois option for moving the facility according to The Belleville News-Democrat (http://bit.ly/1XB7swn ), which obtained a copy of the minutes. Their reasoning included cost savings, security, better efficiency and mission performance.

Michael W. Wynne, a former Air Force secretary who is now chairman of a base council, said he only recalled one site being discussed when leaders met May 9, 2005. He said the agency, which makes military and intelligence maps, couldn't remain for long at its St. Louis home because of aging infrastructure and increasing costs.

"So the thought was they needed to find a new structure for consolidation," he said. He wasn't sure why plans remained on hold for years.

In recent weeks, the competition for the project has intensified.

Officials in southwestern Illinois' St. Clair County said earlier this month that they would more than double the amount of free land they would make available for the project, and both U.S. senators from Illinois are supporters. Three sites in the St. Louis area are also under consideration. St. Louis Mayor Francis Slay's spokeswoman Maggie Crane deemed Illinois' land offer a "political move," but indicated St. Louis officials would be prepared to offer more acreage.

When asked about the 2005 plans, Crane said plans considered years ago by a different group of individuals were "hardly relevant" and wouldn't influence the current decision.

An announcement on the preferred site is expected in March.

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Information from: Belleville News-Democrat, http://www.bnd.com