Burns announces $1 million in state funding for local projects
Rep. Frank Burns December 23, 2017 | 1:17 PM
EBENSBURG, Dec. 23 – State Rep. Frank Burns, D-Cambria, today announced state grants totaling $1 million for economic development projects that will create jobs and also improve the quality of life for Cambria County residents.
Burns worked to help secure $500,000 for Conemaugh Memorial Medical Center and $500,000 for Mount Aloysius College from the state’s Redevelopment Assistance Capital Program.
According to Burns, Conemaugh Health System will use its grant to replace the Conemaugh Ebensburg Ambulatory Care Center with a new building. It is currently anticipated that the new center will be built on a site located on Route 22 between the intersections with Route 219 to the west and Admiral Perry Highway to the east. Specifically, this grant will assist in funding additional site development activities, and the steel, concrete, roof and glass portions of the overall project.
Burns said Mt. Aloysius plans to use its grant to construct an addition to the Learning Center for Health Science and Technology and renovate 26,000 square feet of the existing building. The new addition will include labs, medical imaging and nursing simulation suites, classrooms, faculty offices and communal space for students.
“I am glad to see the state making meaningful investments in our region,” Burns said. “From the jobs that will be created in the construction phase to the improvements being made for residents seeking access to health care and for students in their academic pursuits alike, the state is showing it can be a quality partner in maximizing the economic development opportunities of smaller communities.
“This is exactly the type of investment the state can and should make,” he said.
RACP is administered by the Office of the Budget, for the acquisition and construction of regional economic, cultural, civic, recreational, and historical improvement projects. RACP projects are authorized in the Redevelopment Assistance section of a Capital Budget Itemization Act, have a regional or multi-jurisdictional impact, and generate substantial increases or maintain current levels of employment, tax revenues, or other measures of economic activity.
RACP projects are state-funded projects that cannot obtain primary funding under other state programs.
