Bluegrass Station Today

Bluegrass Station's staff of fewer than 40 employees had its work cut out for them with 782 acres of property, more than 100 buildings, approximately 17 miles of paved roads, and a multitude of water, sewer, and electric lines to manage, maintain and upgrade. However, the staff was up to the challenge. The employees’ hard work and expertise in securing new tenants and in the provision of environmental support, telecommunications, postal services, maintenance, and facility security, have created a flourishing business park.

Approximately 98% of available space is leased to more than 50 tenants with a total of more than 1,750 jobs. Bluegrass Station is proud to report that this employment figure surpasses the number onsite when the Commonwealth took over the operation of the facility.

Bluegrass Station is self-sufficient, operating without the benefit of General Assembly appropriations since July 1, 1996. This means that the facility does not receive taxpayer dollars to pay for its operations, unlike most other state agencies. The Division, operating like a private business, targets its marketing to gain prospective clients in the areas of redistribution endeavors and light industry. This allows Bluegrass Station to play to its strengths.  In addition, BGSD employs an aggressive management style to ensure that tenant relationships remain healthy and profitable. 

Whether it’s been a Department of Defense location or an industrial park with strong military ties, Bluegrass Station has served and continues to serve the region, the state, and the country with dedication, pride, and a strong sense of purpose during wartime and peace. We are proud to continue this tradition into the 21st century.

Bluegrass Station has been operated by the Kentucky Department of Military Affairs, Bluegrass Station Division, since 1994.  Our mission of replacing jobs that were lost due to the closing of Lexington Bluegrass Army Depot has remained constant, but our strategies for meeting this goal continue to evolve.  In recent years, our occupancy rate has hovered at nearly 100%, but in that time we have continued target stable, long term tenants that provide the maximum number of high quality jobs for central Kentuckians.  One direct result of this strategy has been that while our total number of tenants has remained at around 50 over the last three years, the number of jobs provided by those tenants has increase by approximately 300 for a total of over 1,750 high quality jobs.  Since most of our useable space has been leased, we have begun to expand or renovate existing buildings, and have even constructed some new facilities from the ground up, in order to meet the specific needs of our tenants.

Bluegrass Station operates solely on our own receipts, and it is therefore essential that we provide exceptional service to attract and retain good tenants, and in fact we operate the facility much like a private sector business park.  This friendly, professional approach to management is manifested in the very low rate of tenant turnover we enjoy.

The most recent large project is the development of the Aircraft Modification Facility.  The first phase of this project included major renovation of two existing historic hangars, and the construction of a large new hangar with a state-of-the-art aircraft paint booth, and an administrative building.  Ground has already been broken on Phase 2, consisting of another large hangar and the expansion of the helicopter landing pad.
Other completed large scale projects include major renovations of a large warehouse, Building 135, and of our largest administrative space, Building 1.  An existing building was transformed into a well stocked fitness center. Eight large heated above ground tanks were installed to store and distribute heated asphalt oil for a highway construction contractor. And we are currently renovating an existing building to serve as an on-site fire station. 

While construction and renovations projects involving specific buildings have been important in retaining tenants, our major infrastructure and aesthetic improvements have had a large impact as well.  We have upgraded our entire water and sanitary sewer system and have another significant upgrade planned for the near future.  We continue to upgrade our roads and paved parking areas.  Natural gas lines have been extended throughout the facility.  Unsightly above ground steam lines and unused railroad spurs have been removed.  Several of our older buildings have been demolished and removed.  And we have continued to improve our landscaping and grounds keeping.

The consistent improvement of the overall appearance and functionality of our facility, as well as numerous major renovations and construction projects, has been instrumental in attracting, retaining and expanding our base of high quality tenants.

Since the Kentucky Department of Military Affairs took over the management of Bluegrass Station in 1994,  we have been working on the actual transfer of the ownership of the property from the Army to the Commonwealth of Kentucky.  This has been a complex, slow moving process involving input and cooperation from numerous State and Federal agencies, as well as from the general public.  The pace of transfer has been affected mainly by the environmental cleanup that the Army was required to complete before transfer could move forward.

Bluegrass Station was never used to store chemical weapons or for any other extremely hazardous operations, but was utilized for light industrial type operations for over 60 years.  Such things as automobile and equipment maintenance, underground fuel storage, metal plating and small unit training over a long period resulted in several areas of localized soil and groundwater contamination.  Also, three landfills were used to dispose of general household type wastes as well as some hazardous wastes.  The Army has completed the required cleanup and has properly closed and capped the landfills.  As another layer of protection to human health, recreational and/or residential development is prohibited on parts of the facility, and the Army has agreed to indefinite groundwater monitoring and maintenance of the landfill caps.

Most of the buildings and utilities have been transferred to the state in three phases over the last 10 years.  The final few buildings as well as all of the land is scheduled for final transfer to the state in September 2005.  This final transfer will represent the culmination of hard work, compromise and cooperation of many people representing different agencies and interests.