Grant Funding Sought for More Belmont Complex Upgrades
A look inside the renovated Belmont Complex before an Armstrong Riverhawks hockey game this Winter. (KP File Photo)
by Jonathan Weaver
Another application for a fourth phase of upgrades at the Belmont Complex in East Franklin Township will be submitted.
County Commissioners unanimously voted last week to allow County Planning and Development Assistant Director Carmen Johnson to submit an application to the Department of Conservation and Natural Resources (DCNR) for a $137,000 grant to help finance the additions.
“This addition will include a multipurpose room, a women’s locker room, a corridor to the pool access and an outdoor plaza,” Johnson said. “The total project cost is a little over $274,000.
Visitors to the outside pool would have access to the plaza for a dining break or to rest.
This addition was part of the original scope of the projects at the Belmont – however, the cost exceeded the revenue available.”
The remainder of the cost will be a “local match” paid by the County.
Applications are due next Thursday – April 16.
In July, Johnson received approval to submit an application to DCED through the Commonwealth Financing Authority for funding toward phase four, but at that time, the total project cost was about $250,000.
Other funding will be sought to upgrade facilities as well.
The Belmont Complex was also allocated $6,700 through the County’s 2013 Marcellus Shale Legacy Fund.
According to Marcellus Shale Coordinator Carly Cowan, the money was spent to paint an outside portion of the ice rink.
Commissioner Chair David Battaglia at that time said a $63,000 feasibility study of the Belmont Complex is underway, but facility improvements will still move forward.
“When we wrote a letter to (the Department of Conservation and Natural Resources) trying to set up a long-scale plan for the Belmont, the first question they asked us was, ‘Did you do a feasibility study?,’” Battaglia said. “While we’re still in the process of moving forward, we’re going to support the Belmont: we’re going to keep it up and running and looking good.”
Combined with an additional $750,000 from the department of Housing and Urban Development, $350,000 from the Department of Conservation and Natural Resources and a County bond issue, more than $3.4 million has been spent on dehumidification, locker rooms and ensuring safety.
Belmont Complex Executive Director Gary Montebell, the commissioners and Senator Don White celebrated the other three phases of project renovations at a December 2013 ribbon cutting event.
Local News | jweaver April 7, 2015
