Harrisburg, PA – Department of Community and Economic Development (DCED) Acting Secretary Neil Weaver announced today the approval of $7,481 through the Industrial Sites Reuse Program (ISRP) to the Altoona-Blair County Development Corporation to conduct an environmental assessment at the Penn Central Place, a former Pennsylvania Railroad station in Altoona.

“When we bring new life to an old building, we are honoring the past while building on the promise of the future,” said Sec. Weaver. “The ISRP funding awarded today will help write the next successful chapter for this historic Altoona building.”

ISRP funds will be used to perform an environmental assessment of the six-floor, 42,000-square-foot site, located at 1200 11th Avenue. After being vacant for 10 years, this historic downtown anchor building was recently purchased by Penn Central Apartments, LLC. The company plans to convert it into a mixed commercial and residential space.

The ISRP assessment will include an asbestos containing building material survey, lead based paint screening, and report preparation and submission. The estimated total cost of the project is $9,975.

“The future transformation of this site is indicative of funding that adapts to the needs of the community, while being committed to their health and environmental safety needs,” said Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) Acting Secretary Ramez Ziadeh.

The ISRP provides loans and grants for environmental assessments and remediation carried out by eligible applicants who did not cause or contribute to the contamination. The program is designed to foster the cleanup of environmental contamination at industrial sites, thereby bringing blighted land into productive reuse.

For more information about the Industrial Sites Reuse program, visit the DCED website, and be sure to stay up-to-date with all of our agency news on Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn.

MEDIA CONTACT:
Penny Ickes, DCED, dcedpress@pa.gov
Jamar Thrasher, DEP, ra-epnews@pa.gov

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