SOUTH POINT — The Ironton Post of the Ohio State Highway Patrol expects to be in its new multi-million dollar facility at South Point by this summer.

That will be about seven months after ground was broken for the building on four and a half acres on Willow Branch off of Sand Road, near the South Point High School.

The new structure will replace the outmoded post at South Point on Delta Lane that the patrol now leases from Larry Carter, owner of the nearby Highland Memorial Gardens.

This comes about a year after the Ironton Post moved its dispatchers to Jackson in a consolidation move.

The new building will have 6,000 square feet of space compared to the current facility that is only a 1,700-square-foot structure.

When the Post took over its present headquarters in the 1980s, there were only seven troopers attached.

Now there are 11 troopers, four sergeants, the commander, a secretary and a maintenance man.

There will also be a three bay garage attached that is environmentally safe, a greeting room, larger locker rooms and office space and a meeting room that may used by the public.

Harp Industries Inc. is contractor for the structure that costs close to $1.8 million.