SOUTH POINT — After years of planning and some bumps in the road along the way, the Ohio University Southern Training Center on U.S. 52 is starting to take shape.

The center is now under construction at the rear of the Greater Lawrence County Area Chamber of Commerce at The Point and should be under roof in the upcoming weeks, according to Jeremy Clay, assistant director of the industrial park.

And although the heating and air system as well as

electrical work will be done soon, masonry work and exterior work have not been bid out yet, and no firm date has been set for the project’s completion, Clay said.

The 3,200-square-foot center, which will cost about $400,000 to build, will feature five offices, two conference rooms and a large meeting room. The new addition also will add about 30 more parking spaces at the chamber.

It will serve as a training facility for businesses locating at The Point.

Clay said training employees on-site is a tremendous asset to those who come to the industrial park. OUS also will use the center for a variety of purposes.

A business incubator will be located in the center as well. It will serve small businesses in the county that need a little help getting off the ground.

The businesses there will have access to a variety of services aimed at helping their ventures be successful. Last year, the future of the project was cloudy because of problems with funding the center, which was, at that time, supposed to offer many more services than the current plan calls for.

The Lawrence Economic Development Corporation and OUS decided that instead of running the risk of losing the project entirely, they would scale back the project, both in size and scope.

They decided to expand the existing chamber building instead of constructing a freestanding center and offer more specialized training at a smaller scale.