Albright College and Alvernia University will receive a combined $5 million in state grant funding.
Alvernia will get $4 million to assist with its Reading CollegeTowne initiative, which will see the school open a downtown Reading Campus.
Albright will receive $1 million to renovate its Gingrich Library.
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The money is being provided through the Pennsylvania Redevelopment Assistance Capital Program. The program is administered through the Office of the Budget for the acquisition and construction of regional economic, cultural, civic, recreational and historical improvement projects.
The local grant recipients were announced Wednesday by state Sen. Judy Schwank, an advocate for both projects.
Pennsylvania Redevelopment Assistance Capital Program grant funds Reading-based initiative
Alvernia receives a $4 million grant from the Pennsylvania Redevelopment Assistance Capital Program to renovate its newly secured downtown Reading location at 401 Penn Street, which is the centerpiece of the
Reading CollegeTowne initiative, the innovative strategy of expanding the campus into the downtown area to continue its Franciscan mission of serving the underserved through education and economic development. The grant award is the largest in the university’s 62-year history.
This support for Alvernia and the Reading CollegeTowne movement is truly unprecedented and was made possible by the continuing outpouring of support of so many, including Senator Schwank, Mayor Moran, Reading City Council and the Berks County Commissioner, our trustees and partners,” said Alvernia University President
The Third Avenue Streetscape project aims to transform Third Avenue as a gateway into Coatesville from the new train station and includes the repaving of Third Avenue and the installation of sidewalk amenities, including ADA accessibility improvements from Lincoln Highway to Fleetwood Street.
MediaNews Group File Photo
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The Wilkes-Barre Zoning Hearing Board on Wednesday approved variances for a mixed-use development project at the site of the former Hotel Sterling lot at West Market and North River streets in Wilkes-Barre, seen here from a River Street vantage point in this 2018 photo.