COLUMBUS, Ohio — The state’s 2025–26 capital budget dedicates more than $7.2 million to Athens County projects.
House Bill 2 allotted over $14.3 million to the 94th House District, according to a press release from State Rep. Jay Edwards (R-Nelsonville). The district comprises Athens, Meigs and Morgan counties, and southwestern Washington County.
Edwards, chairman of the Ohio House Finance Committee, expressed pride in once again securing state funding for his district.
“One of the things I campaigned on was the fact that our district has really been left out of capital budgets,” Edwards said. “We were able to get $14.3 million just in community projects, not even counting the money … which is your traditional capital budget, not including all the other capital investments that the state made in the operating budgets.”
Athens County will receive $745,000 for four local capital projects:
- $350,000 for the Federal Valley Resource Center.
- $100,000 for the construction of a Rome Township Community Park.
- $260,000 for new playground equipment at Alexander Local Schools.
- $35,000 for revitalization of Stuart’s Opera House. “We are very grateful for this state support, which will enable us to continue the essential preservation and maintenance of this historic building and cherished cultural landmark,” Stuart’s Executive Director Melissa Wales said in an email statement.
In addition, the county will receive one-time funding totaling over $6.5 million from House Bill 2’s Strategic Community Investment Fund for a number of projects, including:
- $2.5 million for the Athens Regional Training Center.
- $2.5 million to Ohio University’s Gordon K. Bush Airport.
- $700,000 for the Appalachian Center for Economic Networks food sector accelerator project.
- $250,000 for Nelsonville-York Elementary School playground renovation.
- $250,000 for the York Township Volunteer Fire Department.
- $139,731 for the Nelsonville Dog Park.
- $100,000 for the Boys and Girls Club of Athens.
- $100,000 for the Buchtel Village Park Project.
Training facility
One of the largest appropriations in Athens County is seed funding for the Athens Regional Training Center, a project years in the making, Edwards said. The center will be a training facility primarily for firefighters as well as other emergency personnel, such as emergency medical technicians and police officers.
“This is a regional project that will impact our entire region,” Edwards said. “I’ve constantly had a soft spot in my heart for our volunteer firefighters all over the state, but especially in rural Ohio. I think 80 to 90% of my geographic district is covered by volunteer fire departments. And we’re seeing a rapid decline in young people joining the volunteer fire department and retention … You’ve got to have fire protection, and actually plays a role in not just the economics of getting a business to come, but also their insurance rates and all those sorts of things.”
Athens City Fire Department Chief Robert Rymer said that the facility will be located just outside of Athens on 14 acres off Kenny Drive. The site could include a third city fire station, he said.
“I don’t know what the overall project is going to be,” Rhymer said. “It’s going to specialize in technical rescue, because we run the regional team out of our station.”
Rymer hopes the facility can include a live burn facility, training equipment for trench rescues, rope rescues and more.
“We’re actually gonna have some scenarios set up in there, some props set up in there so the police department can use it to train for live shooter incidents, forcible entry,” Rymer said. “EMS can use it for extricating people out of homes, getting them up and downstairs, things. It’s not just going to be a fire training facility, but everyone around the region will be able to use it.”
The city of Athens will own the training facility, as the fire department is spearheading the project, but it will be used by organizations across southeast Ohio, Rhymer said.
Athens Mayor Steve Patterson noted that “a lot of our firefighters, your volunteers, or full-time firefighters are having to travel elsewhere to gain those skills.” The facility will also offer professional development opportunities to local and regional firefighters (and others) on a regular basis, benefiting them as individuals and the public as public responders.
“It would be wonderful to be able to travel somewhere, get the training, and then travel back home within the same day, as opposed to having to travel further, possibly budget for overnight stays,” Patterson said.
The $2.5 million from the budget will cover construction of the initial building, projected to cost around $1.8 million, Rymer said.
“We’re hoping by the end of next year, we’ll at least have the burn facility set up,” Rhymer said.
Nelsonville Dog Park
The capital budget appropriation will “will have a great impact on the goal of building a Nelsonville dog park,” City of Nelsonville Public Information Officer Dan Pfieffer said in an email. The project currently has only $3,763 in cash.
“Initially it was thought we would need to take small steps as additional funding was acquired,” Pfieffer said.
The dog park will be located at the former Nelsonville wastewater treatment facility, at 1157 E. Canal St. The site has been reclaimed and is shovel-ready for the dog park, Pfeiffer said.
“We have conceptual drawings, and the city is waiting for the State of Ohio to release the funds to the city,” Pfieffer stated. “Once the state funding is received the final design and planning can begin, followed by contractor bidding, and finally construction.”
Other projects
The York Township Volunteer Fire Department said in a Facebook post that it received the funding after a visit from Sen. Brian Chavez (R-Marietta), who represents Athens County in Ohio Senate District 30.
“Plans will include adding on to the station, updating electric, creating an area that can be used for disasters, including a full building generator that we currently do not have,” the York VFD said in a Facebook post. “More details to come as we get the ins and outs surrounding this funding.”
Sen. Chavez also visited ACEnet, which has locations in Athens and Nelsonville, said ACEnet Director of Programs Leslie Schaller. Both locations are “always in need of physical upgrades,” Schaller said. For example, The Nelsonville ACEnet building, which encompasses nearly 100,000 square feet, needs a new roof, she said.
A small business incubator, ACEnet has supported local and regional worker-owned enterprises for 40 years. Though largely associated with food and agricultural businesses — such as Casa Nueva, Shagbark Shagbark Seed and Mill, and Snowville Creamery — ACEnet clients include a variety of health and wellness practitioners, artisans, woodworkers and more.
“Because we work with so many different distribution businesses, both manufacturing and food distribution in Nelsonville, and Athens, a lot of the necessary upgrades — to just manage all the distribution — is important for us,” Schaller said.
ACEnet serves primarily low- and middle-income entrepreneurs, who need access to affordable, quality spaces to build their startups, Schaller said.
“What the capital budget really enables us to do is — in one fell swoop — is do a lot of the physical upgrades to both our structures and just the amenities equipment wise in both of these campuses,” Schaller said.
Chavez did not return a request for comment in time for publication.
Edwards is term-limited and serving his last year as state representative. Voters will choose his replacement on Nov. 5.
Dani Kington contributed reporting for this story.
Update: This story has been updated to include a link to an announcement from Ohio University.
Correction: A previous version of this story incorrectly stated the name of Shagbark Seed and Mill. We apologize for this error and any confusion this may have caused.
