Construction starts soon on Marion industrial park

Work will begin later this month on a new 184-acre industrial park in Marion.

The Marion City Council last week awarded a $3.2 million contract to Delong Construction of Washington to develop the Marion Enterprise Center located west of the Marion Airport.

The project is a cooperative venture between the Marion Economic Development Co. and the City of Marion.

A privately owned industrial park, Marion Industrial Center East, will open up 100 acres of property owned by Nancy Riley to industrial development nearby.

Tax increment financing for the Marion Industrial Center East was  approved by the city council last week, and had previously been approved for the Marion Enterprise Center. It will allow an increment of future tax revenues to be used to repay development costs to put water, sewer, roads and storm sewer into the developments.

Marion Economic Development Co.  President George Lake said the developments will add badly-needed “shovel-ready” sites. The Marion Enterprise Center will provide relocation sites for two existing  Marion businesses, Prince Agri Products and Marion Iron, to relocate and expand.

Lake said the  industrial parks will fill a serious need for large “shovel-ready” commercial and industrial sites. The need for heavy industrial sites, which Marion Industrial Center East will fill, is especially dire, Lake said.