Mar 29, 2024 By Amy Fauth 4 min read

A $12 million proposed community center/library project in eastern Greene County was just a dream, until county officials learned recently they’d received $5 million in federal funding.

While talks and preliminary plans had been discussed by a steering committee for some time, until that funding came through, the project was little more than a wish list item, said Richard Cleveland, executive director of county development.

“The aim of the project is for a multi-generational, multi-use facility for the benefit of the entire community,” said Nicole Mitchell, director of Flenniken Library in Carmichaels. “Congressman (Guy) Reschenthaler and the Greene County commissioners have been instrumental in securing the funds needed for the project.”

The library will be one of the occupants of the center, which officials are tentatively calling the Eastern Greene Community Center.

Julia Pascuzzo, president of the board of directors for Flenniken, said the library is desperately in need of a new space. The building it is in now was constructed more than five decades ago, and is too small for the library’s purposes, she said.

It was those associated with the library who started working with others in the community and the county to try to get the community center and library built.

“We’re really excited about what we’ve been able to accomplish with the county’s support,” Pascuzzo said. “This is really going to be a great resource for everybody in the community.”

The project committee is working with Nicole Mitchell, Flenniken’s director, on planning for the library portion of the project.

“Our current building was never meant to be a library,” said Mitchell. “It is a century-old home that has been added on to, bit by bit, in an attempt to suit our growing needs. When talks first began about the prospect of a new building for the library, the project was expanded to include a community center as well.”

While final details for the design of the library are far from complete, Pascuzzo said they want to design a “modern library” that incorporates more than just books to appeal to patrons of all ages.

A recent American Library Association study found that millennials visit libraries more often now than they did 10 years ago and both Gen Z (ages 11-26) and millennials (ages 27-42) use the library’s resources and visit libraries at a higher rate than prior generations did.

Cleveland said the federal funds, applied for by the county, require a 25% match.

The county also has applied for $5 million in state funding through the Redevelopment Assistance Capital Program. RACP grant funding program is designed for the acquisition and construction of regional economic, cultural, civic, recreational and historical improvement projects.

If acquired, the state funding could be used to meet the local match requirement for the federal funding, according to Cleveland.

“Our goal is to lessen the burden on local sources – lessen it or make it nothing,” said Cleveland.

If the county does secure the $5 million in state funding, Cleveland said another $1 million could be raised in local share account (LSA) grant funding, bringing the total raised up to $11 million out of the $12 million needed for the project. That would leave the steering committee to come up with $1 million in funding, and while Cleveland knows that’s a big number, it is possible.

“Our hopes are for fundraising that once everyone sees how much has already been raised that they will buy into (the project) and help us come up with the rest.”

If the needed amount doesn’t come through, Cleveland said the project could be downsized.

The current plan is to construct the center on land acquired by the steering committee a few years ago in Wana B. Park in Cumberland Township.

However, Cleveland stressed the facility isn’t just for those in Cumberland Township or Carmichaels.

“This is more of a regional project. People from Fayette County and Waynesburg will also want to use this facility,” he said.