Lawmakers, local leaders celebrate $1M in funding to enliven site in Ambridge

AMBRIDGE, Pa. — State Rep. Robert Matzie (D-District 16) formerly served as the mayor of Ambridge. He’s seen land off of New Economy Drive sit vacant for years.

“That whole area was all old steel mills,” Matzie said. “It was an eyesore, and as mayor, I could tell you the chief would tell me on a daily basis the issues and problems they had with vandalism, a lot of different issues they had over there that we really needed to clean up.”

Over the years, the borough has worked to clean the site. Now, they say it’s prime for development.

“So we’re looking at building a multi-generational facility that would encompass a senior center, community center and wellness, sports and recreational facility,” Borough Manager Mario Leone said. “So it’ll be a wide gamut of amenities that it’ll offer.”

On Friday, Congressman Chris Deluzio (D-District 17) announced the borough received more than $1 million in Community Project Funding to build it.

“It’ll start with a multi-purpose turf field that would accommodate football, soccer, baseball. We’ll have basketball courts, volleyball, pickleball (and more),” Leone said.

Ambridge leaders said they’ve been working for years to revitalize the area, and this project will bring more people into Ambridge and give them another place to go.

“The benefit to the community will be beyond just Ambridge,” Deluzio said. “I think that’s the vision we share, I think that’s why we’ve been able to be successful in Washington and Harrisburg. It takes an all-government approach to back this thing up as a real community benefit.”

Ambridge also received $42,000 on Friday from the state to do a feasibility study for the project. That will take about three months.

“And then after that, we’ll engage an architect to draw up the plans and optimistically, hoping in early 2027 that we could put the project out to bid and then get it under construction as soon as possible,” Leone said.

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