Cepeda-Freytiz announces $5M in state grants for local development

HARRISBURG, Nov. 6 – State Rep. Johanny Cepeda-Freytiz today announced the state is providing $5 million in state funding for renovations to a historic building in the 129th Legislative District.

The funding, provided through the state’s Redevelopment Capital Assistance Program, will fund the following projects:

Goggleworks II, awarded to Our City-Reading Inc., $5,000,000

This request for funding is to assist with the total renovation and adaptive reuse of a blighted four-floor historic building located in Reading’s 6th Ward. Three non-profit organizations with high community impact will occupy the building as tenants, including Helping Harvest, Reading Science Center and GoggleWorks Center for the Arts.

“State government funding is essential for local development as well as for helping non-profits, as they provide the resources our community needs to strengthen our quality of life, handle pressing challenges, and drive meaningful change,” said Cepeda-Freytiz, D-Berks. “By investing in this project, we are lifting up many people in our communities.

“Congratulations to the award recipients; your hard work reflects highly on our region.”

The Redevelopment Assistance Capital Program is a Pennsylvania grant program for the design, acquisition and construction of regional economic, cultural, civic, recreational and historical improvement projects. RACP projects have a regional impact and generate substantial increases or maintain current levels of employment, tax revenues or other measures of economic activity.  RACP projects are state-funded projects that cannot obtain primary funding under other state programs.