Members of the Upshur County Commission and Buckhannon City Council met in a joint session at the Courthouse Annex Thursday to discuss the new armory.

Upshur County Development Authority Director Steve Foster and local business owner Sam Nolte presented a PowerPoint which allowed council and commission members to view photographs of the new guard facility at Summersville and proposals for the new Buckhannon facility. Foster said he has spoken with guard officials who questioned what the Buckhannon community needs to be added to the new center. The Summersville facility includes a large convention center and arena.

At the Summersville facility, Nolte said the Convention and Visitors Bureau and the city worked together on the project. The facility has a 3,700-square-foot convention center with space for around 400 people for conferences, and 250 people for banquets and receptions. For smaller events, the room has dividers that can be closed. The facility also has a 24,000-square-foot arena that can seat 2,400 people for performances and around 2,000 for basketball games.

"This is an opportunity of a lifetime," Nolte said. "The current armory is around 50 years old. If we don't move on this, none of us will be around when another new armory is built."

Following the regular meeting, the two groups entered an executive session to further discuss the new armory. No decisions were made.

The new proposed E-911 center was also briefly discussed. According to County Administrator William Parker, the county has been working with St. Joseph's Hospital to purchase around three acres near the hospital's former laundry site.

In the beginning, the county had asked Bryson VanNorstrand to provide plans to renovate the current E-911 center. But after checking codes and other requirements, the commission decided to go forward with a new facility.

The communication center currently has 12 employees with four on duty during each shift, Parker said.

The current facility is less than 800 square feet and the new facility would be around 5,000 square feet.

During the Upshur County Commission's Aug. 27, Parker said the new facility would cost around $160,000. It was also stated at that meeting that the county would request another bid for a 900-square-foot space for the Office of Emergency Management at the same site.

The county would have to pay for this because E-911 funds cannot be used. That project would cost around $100,000.

Parker added that once the bids are in, construction could begin in early spring 2010.