New dive locker coming at Conn. Navy sub base

GROTON, Conn. (AP) — The military has broken ground on a new diver support facility at the U.S. Navy submarine base in Groton.

The $3.5 million dive locker is among the projects paid for by the state of Connecticut in an effort to increase the value of the base and reduce the possibility it will be targeted for closure.

The new facility will replace a dive locker on the base's waterfront that is nearly a century old. It will include a full locker room, a training room, equipment storage, and office and medical spaces.

The state of Connecticut has invested close to $11 million in the base since 2009. It has helped to build a new submarine bridge trainer, a culinary training center and an improved boiler at the base power plant.