Brackenridge pursues $600,000 state grant to help foot cost of public works building

A new Brackenridge public works building could break ground by mid-2023 if the borough lands a $600,000 state gambling revenue grant.

Council applied for a Local Share Account grant, funded by state gambling tax revenues, but will have to wait a few months before hearing back, engineer Gordon Taylor said.

“They will not be announcing awards until late this year or early next year,” he said.

Two other grants already have been secured.

They include $200,000 from the Allegheny County Gaming Economic Development Fund and $100,000 through the county’s Gaming Economic and Tourism Fund.

The total project cost is expected to be about $900,000, Taylor said.

Upgrades to the public works facility are long overdue, according to several council members.

“We need a new building,” Councilman Dino Lopreiato said. “It’s definitely a priority.”

Council has been eyeing the new maintenance building for years.

The current facility dates to 1900 and is the original pump house for the water plant.

There are spots where the floor is caving in and other spaces in disrepair, Council President Tim Connelly said.

If the grant is approved, a new building would be constructed on the same property as the existing one, at the corner of Reservoir Drive and Prospect Street.

Connelly said he is hoping for word on the grant by the end of the year.

“It would be great to get this going next year,” he said. “We need the new building bad.”