SMETHPORT — McKean County is accepting applications for the first round of this year’s Act 152 Blight grant, due at 4 p.m. March 22.
These grants will be reviewed in early April 2024 with a goal of awarding grants in late April 2024.
Grant guidelines and applications for both the municipal and private landowner programs are available at www.mckeancountypa.gov or by contacting Planning Director Rick Fry, (814) 887-2754, rfry@mckeancountypa.gov or Ann Robinson, economic development liaison, at (814) 887-3107, arrobinson@mckeancountypa.gov
McKean County launched the Act 152 Blight Demolition Program in 2021. This program provides grants to demolish blighted structures and is funded through a fee collected by the Recorder of Deeds Office when deeds and mortgages are recorded. To date, the program has demolished a total of 21 buildings. The total cost of these projects was $228,518.43 including $161,417.20 in Act 152 grant funding and $67,101.23 in local match provided by the property owner or local municipality.
The program continued success in 2023 and has provided much needed funding to aid in the removal of blighted properties throughout McKean County. There were a total of seven buildings demolished this past year, including three projects in the City of Bradford, two projects in Port Allegany Borough, one project in Keating Township, and one project in Smethport Borough.
