City Couple Officially Opens Business on Benedum Drive with Total Investment in Excess of $2 Million
By Jeff Toquinto on February 22, 2019
Going back to 2016, more than one person has inquired about earth being moved and a pretty substantial structure going up along Route 131 (Benedum Drive) just off the Saltwell Road exit of Interstate 79 and heading in the direction of the North Central West Virginia Airport.
Today, the answer for those who didn’t do further inquiry was officially answered. A ribbon-cutting ceremony was held to kickoff the opening of Pratt Mascio Climate Controlled Self Storage. The total investment for the property and building is in excess of $2 million.
“Now that we’re open and I tell folks this is where we’re located they say they’ve been watching that being built and didn’t know what it was,” 
said Julie Pratt, who co-owns the business with her husband Jeff. “I think a lot of people have watched the process and now it’s nice to be able to tell them what it is and that we’re open.”
said Julie Pratt, who co-owns the business with her husband Jeff. “I think a lot of people have watched the process and now it’s nice to be able to tell them what it is and that we’re open.”
The grand opening was today. The Harrison County Chamber of Commerce was on hand to celebrate the event at the easy to find storage facility.
“We chose this location for a couple of reasons,” said Pratt. “We wanted to be part of the Bridgeport community and we liked this location in particular because it’s close to the highway so we thought for the purposes of our business with folks storing and needing access it would be kind of easy to get in and off the highway.”
Pratt said the concept for the massive, four-story building was to be a bit different. She believes they succeeded.
“A lot of the storage facilities, the ones I’ve used in the past, are in darker or hidden locations. We wanted something a little more visible looking a little safer and secure that’s out in the open,” she said.
The building is definitely visible. The structure covers 42,000 square feet. Although there are units that can accessed from the outside, the majority of the more than 115 units built out are on the inside. And 100 percent of them are climate controlled.
“We have two stories built out,” said Pratt. “We wanted to see the demand in terms of unit sizes before we built out the third or fourth floor.”
The indoor units available include 5x5, 5x10, 10x10, 10x15, 10x20 and the 18 external units available include 10x15 and 10x20 and all have their own light fixtures. For those wondering how to access the upper levels, steps aren’t involved. A deep, spacious elevator will get you to where you need to be. A complete buildout would provide more than 230 units.
Pratt said another reason for the location was to help with security. She pointed out that being along a busy road and visible is one benefit. Others, however, have been built in to the facility.
“We have security cameras on each floor that are internal and external on each floor and we also have panic buttons on each floor in the event someone felt uncomfortable and needed some help,” said Pratt, who said they plan to integrate their business into community activities.
To contact Pratt and learn more about Pratt Mascio (her maiden name) Storage, call 304-627-8218. They can also be found online at www.prattmascioselfstorage.com and by email at prattmasciollc@gmail.com.
Editor's Note: Top photo shows owners, Chamber officials and others on hand to celebrate the ribbon cutting. Bottom photo is of Julie Pratt showing the units and their features inside the spacious building.
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