Kaleidoscope:
by Ken Lahmers, Aurora Advocate Editor:
I last wrote about the former Ravenna Army Ammunition Plant after I first went on a bus tour for the media in August 2005.
Driving past some of the decrepit buildings to see what the place looked like years after it was decommissioned as an artillery production facility was something I wanted to do since I moved to Portage County 20 years ago.
On Sept. 11, I got the opportunity to go on another bus tour of the site and, boy, have things changed in the last two years.
Only about 1,000 acres of the rambling 21,500-acre fenced-in property east of Ravenna remain under the U.S. Army's jurisdiction.
The remainder is under the jurisdiction of the Ohio National Guard and is called the Ravenna Training and Logistics Site, used to conduct military training exercises.
Whereas about 300 buildings in several of the 12 load lines at the old ammunition plant remained in 2005, only a few dozen now stand.
The bus took us around former Load Lines 2 (melt/pour operations) and 9 (fuze/ booster zone), and we went past no more than a half-dozen remaining buildings.
We saw several concrete pads where the buildings used to stand. We were told they eventually will be removed so that land, too, can be turned over to the National Guard.
Tests must be conducted to see whether there is soil contamination under the pads from harmful chemical residue which ran off during building washout operations.
Although there are still many environmental concerns on the site which will have to be monitored for several years, few signs of the old ammunition plant are visible.
The site now accommodates combat units of the Ohio Army National Guard and other reserve components from a few surrounding states for training exercises conducted on weekends.
Retired Lt. Col. Tom Tadsen, who is co-chairman of the site's Restoration Advisory Board, said in the last few years training has increased from 10,000 man hours to over 100,000 per year.
"This is a high-security facility for classified training," he said. "Being a restricted area, it's a perfect site for training."
One of the areas we got to see close-up was the new Mark 10 grenade firing range in the center of the property. It exists on what was once the Winklepeck Burning Grounds, a 200-acre parcel where ammunition components and chemicals were disposed of.
The range is the only one of its kind in the nation. It has three firing lanes measuring 1,500 meters long. A fourth lane will be added when cleanup of a contaminated area is completed.
The grenade launcher can shoot up to 375 40-millimeter shells a minute, with an effective range of 400 to 1,500 meters. The site uses "dummy" rounds, not live rounds that actually blow up things.
There are pop-up targets dotted around the lanes, with fixed targets such as vehicles further away. Computers in a tower behind the firing lines record how many targets are hit.
Tadsen said it is a great multi-purpose range, and in the future weapons training will be expanded to include other small arms.
David Crispo of Shaw Environmental, the firm handling contaminated soil remediation at Load Lines 1 to 4, said the next phase is to remove 15,000 cubic yards to approved off-site landfills.
Except for the powerhouse in Load Line 2 and a few small buildings in Load Line 3, the demolition of buildings is complete and the contractor is in the midst of the cleanup phase.
There once were more than 1,300 buildings, including ammunition storage bunkers or "igloos," on the grounds. Production of ammo began in late 1941 after a construction period of only 18 months.
The plant produced millions of shells and bombs, as well as Amatol and nitrate of ammonia, and it stored ammunition. It supported war efforts in World War II, Korea and Vietnam.
The site was returned to standby status in 1971, and continued to demilitarize ammunition until 1984. Transfer of a majority of acreage to the Ohio National Guard took place in the mid-1990s.
The logistics site also consists of a unit training equipment area, bivouac zones, Bailey bridge, gunnery range used by M-1 Abrams tanks, tank simulation trainer and a 21-mile convoy route and 260-person barracks.
An old airstrip is used for night helicopter operations and parachute drops. Some existing buildings are used to store wheeled and tracked vehicles owned by the Guard. Some have humidity-controlled environments, while others are for cold storage.
The acreage is overgrown in many areas where former buildings and parking lots once existed. A water tank or two and a couple of the several powerhouses at the plant remain, but are not used.
The site is a haven for wildlife, and we spotted many deer crossing roads and them. The National Guard allows controlled deer hunting each year, and the site hosts occasional bike hikes.
Tadsen said bobcats also have been sighted. He noted there are a recreation area and pond on-site which can be used by Guardsmen, reservists and sometimes Scouting groups.
Visible proof of the arsenal's existence is nearly gone, but its legacy will live on. And it appears the site will continue to have a military connection for many decades.
E-mail:
klahmers@recordpub.com
Phone: 330-688-0088 ext. 3155