MASCOUTAH, Ill. (AP) – Members of Illinois’ congressional delegation are appealing to the head of the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency in support of Scott Air Force Base’s bid to host its new facility.

U.S. Sens. Dick Durbin and Mark Kirk and other Illinois congressmen wrote a letter to NGA Director Robert Cardillo this week, urging him to select a 182-acre site in St. Clair County as the location of the agency’s new $1.6 billion campus.

The Belleville News-Democrat reports that Cardillo visited with U.S. Rep. Mike Bost of Illinois’ 12th congressional district and others in Washington, D.C. on Wednesday.

The agency is currently located near the St. Louis riverfront on the grounds of the 180-year-old St. Louis Arsenal.

Missouri has offered a 99-acre site in St. Louis for the new campus.