West Virginia officials say plans are moving forward to convert part of a soon-to-be closed Navy base in Pendleton County into a state prison.
Corrections Commissioner Jim Rubenstein told legislators Thursday that the state has submitted a formal application to the federal General Services Division to use part of the 122-acre Sugar Grove military base.
The Charleston Gazette reports that the Navy announced plans in 2012 to close the Naval Information Operations Command base.
State officials say in addition to a 600-plus bed correctional facility, the joint application also calls for the state National Guard to develop a Wounded Warrior assisted-living center on the base, and for the state Department of Agriculture to use some of the acreage for farmland to be maintained by inmates.