KRISTIN BAUER/ CHRONICLE Lordstown Mayor Arno Hill speaks during a labor rally for Bartlett Maritime held at Black River Landing on Monday morning, May 2.

LORAIN — A potential submarine dry dock project in Lorain and Lordstown received support from Ohio’s trade unions at a Monday rally.

The AFL-CIO, joined by Lorain Mayor Jack Bradley, Lordstown Mayor Arno Hill and other officials, lent their support for Bartlett Maritime Corp.’s proposal of a double submarine dry dock in Lorain and a depot in Lordstown to remedy what it calls the country’s crisis in submarine maintenance.

“America is in crisis, my friends, and everybody in this room knows it,” AFL-CIO Metal Trades Department President Jimmy Hart told the crowd at Black River Landing. “The crisis is deep, it’s miles wide and it stems from coast to coast. It’s crucial that the American worker steps up and solves it.”

The rebirth of Lorain, Lordstown, the “marine highway” all starts now, he said, with the Bartlett proposal.

“There’s a rebirth going on here in Lorain, but it will not be complete until we create tens of thousands of new jobs in communities like Lorain throughout the country,” Hart said.

The multibillion-dollar project could bring more than 3,000 jobs to Lorain, with an additional 1,000 to Lordstown if it receives the Navy’s green light. Retired Navy Capt. Ed Bartlett founded Bartlett Maritime Corp. to help with the Navy’s maintenance demands for attack submarines, a need highlighted by a 2018 U.S. Government Accountability Office report noting between 2008 and 2018, portions of the fleet sat idle for more than 10,000 days as a result of maintenance delays getting in and out of the shipyards available.

THE PROPOSAL

His proposal would be a public-private partnership for the Lorain dry dock, with the Navy leasing it from Barlett Maritime Corp. for 30 years before the property transfers to the military.

Lorain’s indoor dry docks would be able to handle up to four submarines at once, and Lordstown’s manufacturing and supply depot would support the site by building and maintaining equipment on the submarines brought into Lorain and other naval facilities.

Bradley, Lorain’s mayor, referenced President Joe Biden’s visit to the International City in February to announce the nearly $1 billion investment in the Great Lakes from the bipartisan infrastructure bill.

“Now (Biden) doesn’t just come to Lorain, Ohio, because he wants to see what we’re doing in Lorain,” Bradley said. “He comes here because he believes in our city and he believes in the workforce we have here in Lorain County. In our discussion, he said, ‘I want to let you know, Mayor Bradley, that better days are ahead for Lorain, Ohio.'”

Those better days could extend to Lordstown, if the project moves forward.

Arno Hill, Lordstown’s mayor, said he hadn’t realized the state of the country’s submarine infrastructure until he met with Bartlett about the proposal.

If the Navy approves Bartlett’s project and a couple others move forward, the village will have seen upward of $5 billion in investments in the past 10 years, he said.

“Let’s go get Bartlett Maritime over the edge,” he said, a sentiment greeted with cheers from the crowd gathered as banners from supporting unions flapped in the morning’s cold wind.

TWO COMMUNITIES

Lorain Council President Joel Arredondo looked to other statements made Monday that the project was “deserved” for the two Rust Belt communities.

It takes men like Bartlett, with vision and wherewithal, to bring projects like the dry dock to life, he said.

“Growing up, I remember my dad always telling myself (and) my seven siblings nobody gives you nothing, nothing is fair,” Arredondo said. “If you want something you’ve got to go out and work for it. You’ve got to go to school and get educated. But most of all, nothing you get is going to be deserved, it’s what you’re going to fight for, you’re going to negotiate and, if you get defeated, you’ve got to keep coming back and back … right now we are in a fight-back mode.”

Bartlett’s remarks were brief and followed a long line of supporters from the AFL-CIO Metal Trades to the union’s Maritime Department and Ohio State Building Trades.

“Earlier I saw at least one hard hat in the crowd – we love hard hats,” Bartlett said. “And when we’re done with this project, there’s going to be thousands of hard hats both here in Lorain and over in Lordstown. We’re going to create good jobs, and we’re going to have a good time doing it.”

Local and union officials were joined by several legislators who all previously lended their support in an open letter to the U.S. Navy in early February. U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown, and U.S. Reps. Tim Ryan and Marcy Kaptur all spoke in support of the project.

cwoytach@chroniclet.com.