Cambria County agencies receive state grant funds

Funding slated for renovations, expansions to internet access

Three Cambria County agencies received funding through the state's Multi-Purpose Facilities Grant program to undergo renovations and expand access to broadband internet.

The program offered $45 million in competitive grants to community anchor institutions and local governments for projects to construct, acquire or improve public facilities that enable work, education and health monitoring, according to a press release.

The Pennsylvania Broadband Development Authority awarded the Gallitzin Public Library a $942,564 grant for renovations; the Cambria County Library in Johnstown received $2 million for first-floor renovations; and the Bishop McCort Catholic High School received $897,612 to construct the Bishop McCort Catholic High School Technology Innovation Center in the city's Osborne neighborhood.

Gallitzin Public Library

Gallitzin Public Library board President Debra Chuckalovchak said the funds will be used to renovate the Gallitzin Borough's multi-use municipal building where the library is housed along 411 Convent St.

Chuckalovchak said the building's lobby will receive new flooring, its restrooms will be renovated, new automatic doors will be installed and the building's roof will be replaced. As part of the project, the borough council's meeting room will be renovated because there's not a private area in the library for people to participate in telemedicine calls or job interviews, she said, noting the library currently has a single laptop for public use.

"We're getting an additional laptop so people can go in a private area where the council chambers are and talk to their doctor or have an interview of some kind," Chuckalovchak said.

Chuckalovchak said the grant provided funding for the renovation's entire cost. She said the project has to go through a bidding process, but Gallitzin officials are hoping the work could begin as early as the upcoming spring season.

Chuckalovchak said the library has a director, Helen Saylor, and three part-time staff members. It's open to the public 45 hours a week, Monday through Saturday, and has been housed in the borough's building since 1998. Although some walls have been painted, there haven't been any "real upgrades" since then, she said.

Chuckalovchak said many people residing within the library's service area -- Gallitzin, Tunnelhill, Coupon and Ashville -- do not have internet access at home and rely on the library's Wi-Fi to conduct important business, like renewing a driver's license or registration.

"(The funding) will help the community in that way," Chuckalovchak said.

Cambria County Library

Cambria County Library System Executive Director Ashley Flynn said the Cambria County Library's staff have been working with the community recently to better understand needed changes and upgrades to enhance the building's functionality.

"Probably the main request that we get from the public ... is for more places to meet," Flynn said, noting the library only has one room for the public to use currently. "People are looking for private work spaces."

To address that request, Flynn said the library will use its $2 million to enact first-floor renovation projects, adding various-sized focus rooms people will be able to reserve. The rooms will be outfitted with the technology people need to conduct a Zoom meeting or a telehealth visit, she said.

Flynn said there will be five small and two large meeting rooms added to the library's first floor, in addition to new computer and learning labs. The project will be "substantially complete" by the end of 2026, she said.

The library, located along Main Street in Johnstown, is a 45,000-square-foot facility over 50 years old, Flynn said, adding it's "way overdue" for functional and aesthetic upgrades.

Flynn said the library has completed community input studies and worked with an architect to develop design plans for the whole building.

"We know what we want the whole building to look like eventually, but this (funding) will let us get the first floor completed," Flynn said.

Flynn said she is "very appreciative" of the support the library has received from the Johnstown community and from stakeholders -- government officials and partnering organizations.

"They've been very patient and understanding with us as we've worked through some of the other upgrades that we've done to the building already," she said. "We know this one is going to be very significant."

Bishop McCort

Bishop McCort Catholic High School Principal Tom Smith, who is also Bishop McCort Catholic Academy's chief administrative officer, said the nearly $900,000 grant will enable Bishop McCort to purchase the former AmeriServ Financial Bank building at the corner of Franklin Street and Osborne Street and renovate the facility, creating the Bishop McCort Catholic High School Technology Innovation Center.

"The grant will be used to provide internet opportunities to the local region and community so they have access to Wi-Fi," Smith said.

According to Smith, the facility will house an internet cafe, Bishop McCort's Blended Academy online programming and it will be used as a hub for the school's health education and learning program, a joint venture between Bishop McCort and the Conemaugh Memorial Medical Center.

"The HEAL program is designed to give students exposure to the medical field," Smith said, noting the hospital's staff members will walk over to the facility to deliver instruction to students for classes in the medical field, such as terminology and upper-level biology classes.

"This is a win-win for both area students and the Johnstown community," Smith said.