Wick City Residents to Suggest Revitalization Priorities

from the KP NewsDesk

Residents of the Third and Fourth wards in Kittanning will have an opportunity to identify areas of their community that would qualify for a makeover.

The community meeting will be held tomorrow night, Tuesday, March 29 beginning at 6PM at the Living Water Church (former Knights of Columbus hall) at 721 Woodward Avenue.

The meeting is being sponsored by the Armstrong County Habitat for Humanity. Executive Director Michael McElhaney said it is the first step in creating a plan to improve the area.

“The meeting is going to be a discussion and get input from community members as to what they might want the community to look like in a few years,” he said. “It’s a national program from Habitat called Neighborhood Revitalization where we focus on an area and include a lot of agencies and see what we can do to improve the area.”

While the Habitat program currently rehabs homes and assists in getting long term owners into those homes, McElhaney says the emphasis of the Neighborhood Revitalization is much different.

“This is a little broader. There might be an empty lot that ends up having a playground or maybe we need sidewalk repair, or maybe it has to do with what goes into the (former Kittanning) high school. So it is more of a community development with a Habitat piece.”

Through the national Neighborhood Revitalization operation of Habitat, organizers hope to bring together enough funding sources to accomplish one or more projects, depending on scope of work.

Fliers have been passed out through the neighborhood, and McElhaney expects a good turnout.

“I expect a lot of people from the community. We have many agencies that are involved with this, so I expect agency leaders (to attend). The three commissioners have met and are supportive of this. Planning and development, the YMCA, Salvation Army, Housing Authority… so these are agencies that have met with us that are supportive of putting together a plan.”

McElhaney outlined the next step after tomorrow night’s meeting.

“After this planning meeting, we would come up with some priorities of what people who live there want. Then we will do a more in-depth survey, and from that survey, come up with a time plan (establishing what will happen during the three-year plan).”

McElhaney said without the initial plan being created, there is no opportunity to ask for money from funding sources.

“When you have the plan in hand, there are avenues that we can apply for funding, but we really need to have this plan in hand (before we ask for financial assistance).”

McElhaney said there are different types of grants that could be applied for next year, but the plan must be ready to submit for approval within the guidelines of that grant. He said there is also funding available through the USDA since Armstrong is considered a rural county.

“We are focusing more on the residential side rather than businesses in the neighborhood, but the fact that the school is part (of the neighborhood), it needs to be part of the discussion.”

McElhaney said there were several agencies that have indicated interest in the former high school, but said no one has stepped forward to actually offer a use for the property.

Refreshments will also be available at the meeting, which McElhaney estimated will last about 90 minutes.