A proposed water main extension through the Clark County Fairgrounds would serve future development and lead to jobs at Prime Ohio II corporate park, officials said.

A utility easement, approved by Clark County commissioners last week, will allow for the water main extension from near South Charleston Pike, along Laybourne Road, through the fairgrounds, and under Interstate 70 to a proposed corporate park roadway, according to an infrastructure improvement funding map.

“We’re in the final easement acquisition phases for breaking ground in spring,” said Horton Hobbs, vice president of economic development for the Greater Springfield Chamber of Commerce’s Community Improvement Corporation. “It was a critical piece for the water main getting over to the park.”

Funding for the water main extension comes from an approximately $500,000 federal State and Tribal Assistance Grant, Hobbs said.

It’s part of an approximately $8 million project to get the park open next year.

“All funding and financing is nearly in place for the entire project,” Hobbs said. “We want to get this park open in 2014. It will be the first built directly along I-70 since Prime Ohio I.”

The state/tribal funding would also help pay for a proposed water and sewer extension along Ridge Road and ditch improvements in the park, according to the map.

The 250-acre development, a project of the chamber’s Community Improvement Corporation, has received funding from the federal and state levels, as well as funding from the city of Springfield.

Construction is expected to begin in spring and be completed in nine to 12 months, Hobbs said.