BROOKVILLE, Pa. (EYT) – The final piece in financing a project that has been years in the making fell into place last month as a funding request submitted to the Appalachian Regional Commission was approved for the Brookville Town Square Development Project.
With the announcement of $150,000.00 in approved funds from ARC in March, construction on the Town Square project is slated to begin this summer.
Historic Brookville, Inc. will manage the project that is estimated to cost a total $845,250.00. The ARC funds join $380,000.00 from the Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources and $315,250.00 in local funds raised within the community.
The new Town Square will be located in downtown Brookville, adjacent to the west side of the Jefferson County Courthouse. The location had previously housed a service station that was built in the 1960s on the site of the 1850s American Hotel.
When the service station closed in early 2005 and was shortly thereafter placed on the market for sale, HBI secured a purchase option on the property. Various community meetings were held to discuss options for how to utilize the space provided by the site. A vast majority of opinions presented at the public forums favored the creation of a community gather space that would be known as the Town Square.
A Master Site Plan for the space prepared by Ohio urban design and landscape architecture firm MKSK includes a central lawn area, and an area with seating for events that could potentially be converted in the winter to accommodate an ice skating area. Plans for the Town Square also include plantings, performance and exhibit space, and a “water wall” water feature.
According to the North Central Regional Planning and Development Commission, who assisted HBI throughout the process, construction is estimated to begin in early summer and take 90 to 120 days to complete.
Organizers hope to have the site completely rebuilt by the end of November 2015.
For more information and updates, visit Historic Brookville Town Square Project on Facebook.
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