Nov 15, 2024 By Zach Petrofff 2 min read

In this 2023 file photo, Andrew French, executive director of the Fayette County Redevelopment Authority, speaks prior to the groundbreaking for Thompson’s Crossing, a business park for companies and residential housing in North Union Township.

The Redevelopment Assistance Capital Program doled out $3.9 million in Fayette County, including $1 million for the Thompson’s Crossing Business Park in North Union Township.

County Commissioner Vincent Vicites said the funds will go a long way to help complete the first phase of the business park.

“(The park) has been a work in progress, and we have made it a top priority because it will create jobs and build a tax base,” Vicites said.

Vicites said the $1 million grant will be used to help establish roads and infrastructure to the park and help keep the development on schedule. Thompson’s Crossing is expected to be built in two phases, Vicites said, with the first phase expected to go out for bid in the coming months.

Five other projects also benefited from the funding, including WVU Medicine Uniontown Hospital, which received $750,000 toward reopening its labor and delivery unit.

“We are very excited to bring these services back to the community in January and appreciate the support of our elected officials, donors and community for helping us make this happen,” said Carrie Willetts, president and CEO of Uniontown Hospital.

The 13-bed unit closed in 2019 after the hospital’s partnerships with Pittsburgh-based UPMC ended.

“The plan has always been to bring back the maternity ward to Uniontown,” Willetts said.

City Mission Living Stones received $650,000 to repair and rehabilitate the Gallatin School Living Centre in Uniontown, including replacing the roof of the historic building.

Irmi Gaut, City Mission executive director, said everyone at the organization is grateful to the community along with state and local leaders for their help in obtaining the grant.

“We provide housing for the homeless and these funds will allow us to continue to operate the program for years to come,” Gout said. “We opened the building in 1998 and it’s taken a lot of abuse over the past 25 years.”

Other awardees were the Boy Scouts Laurel Highlands Council, $500,000 for improvements at the Heritage Reservation camp in Wharton Township; RMZ Holdings, $350,000 for development at the Timber Rock Amphitheater in Wharton Township; and Team Humanity LLC, $650,000 for renovation of the former Brownsville Telegraph Building on Water Street in Brownsville.