The Centre County Board of Commissioners has approved a contract with a project manager to oversee construction of the new Fire and Emergency Services Training Center.

Frank Schwab was appointed project manager by the countywide committee responsible for development of the training center. Schwab, a resident of Centre County since 1974, was a project manager for Penn State for 23 years.

"I worked on numerous projects throughout the campus in the time I was with Penn State," he said. "The last project I was involved with was the first phase of Research Park."

Schwab has also worked on many other past and present projects throughout the county, including the State College Municipal Building, the planned Alpha Ambulance Building and the new Schlow Library.

"I'm managing the [training center] from the design phase through the construction phase right through the move-in phase," Schwab said. "I think it's going to be a fun project. The group I met last week representing all the fire companies in the area is a fun group to work with."

The approved contract is for up to $35,000 at a rate of $75 per hour.

Jon Eich, Centre County director of administrative services, said the committee solicited three proposals to possible candidates for the position. The group received two inquiries back, and of those, Schwab was picked for the job.

"[Schwab] was chosen because of existing relationships he had with members of the committee and his history of project management with Penn State and in the community," Eich said.

Firefighters at the Alpha Fire Co., 400 W. Beaver Ave., are glad to see progress toward the training center.

"People are really thrilled with this, now that this thing is finally moving forward," said Walter Wise, fire administrator.

Alpha has been involved with the project since the plans for a new training facility first began in 1995, Wise said. It hopes to use the new center for extensive training.

"No one knows exactly yet, but we used the old [training center] very frequently. We're very much oriented towards training," Wise said. "I would expect we'll be heavy users."

Eich said there is a facility in Lewistown, but local companies can only use it once or twice a year because it serves much of the state.

"With facilities in Centre County, they can train more often, do a wider variety of things, and have a single site where training is carried out," Eich said.

The new center will be located on 15 acres of land obtained from the state holdings at Rockview, Eich said. The land is just north of the intersection of Paradise Road and Benner Pike. An old facility was located on the University Park campus, but was closed in 1995 due to groundwater contamination, Eich said.

All of Centre County's 19 fire companies will use the new training center.

Another five fire companies outside the county whose coverage partially comes into Centre County are also expected to use the facility, he said.

Private industries that have their own emergency response teams for on-site incident response may also use the training center, but the county has not yet worked out a plan for access to the facilities, Eich said.

"What the committee has said is that it will be of no cost to the fire companies, but they have not gotten to the point of writing the policy. I'm going to say that will happen sometime early next year," he said.