Report: Illinois base considered for new spy office since 2005

SCOTT AIR FORCE BASE, Ill. -- Proposed plans to relocate a federal spy agency's new regional headquarters from downtown St. Louis to Illinois' Scott Air Force Base have been around for over a decade, according to a newspaper report.

The news comes as Illinois and Missouri are competing to house the new National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency. The $1.6 billion project is expected to create thousands of jobs.

A copy of the minutes from a 2005 meeting of top Pentagon leaders show they considered only the Illinois option for moving the facility according to The Belleville News-Democrat, which obtained a copy of the minutes. Their reasoning included cost savings, security, better efficiency and mission performance.

Michael W. Wynne, a former Air Force secretary who is chairman of a base council, said he only recalled one site being discussed when leaders met May 9, 2005. He said the agency, which makes military and intelligence maps, couldn't remain for long at its St. Louis home because of aging infrastructure and increasing costs.

He wasn't sure why plans remained on hold for years.

In recent weeks, the competition for the project has intensified.

Officials in St. Clair County, Illinois, said earlier this month they would more than double the amount of free land they would make available for the project, and both U.S. senators from Illinois are supporters.

Three sites in the St. Louis area also are being considered.