|
Housing & Community | Real Life Stories « Community Lending Program »
Community Lending Program Success Stories
Hampshire County, West Virginia – Shaping up for a Healthier Future
It had been a long time in the works. Identified several years ago by Hampshire County officials as a community health care need, a state-of-the-art wellness and fitness center was conceived, constructed and opened in the community of Romney, WV – helping area residents get in shape for a healthier future.
FHLBank member Bank of Romney used a $600,000 Community Lending Program (CLP) loan from FHLBank Pittsburgh to support the project. CLP is an $825 million revolving loan pool from which FHLBank members can obtain long-term, lower-cost financing for development initiatives designed to enhance the local economy.
According to Bank of Romney Chief Financial Officer and Vice President Dean Young, “The Bank of Romney has been a community-oriented financial institution since 1888. The need for a wellness and fitness center for our local community was long overdue and is used regularly now by the community. We were glad to provide a portion of the funding using the Community Lending Program, helping to provide low-cost financing.”
Said Les Shoemaker Jr., executive director, Hampshire County Development Authority: “The total development cost for the Hampshire Wellness & Fitness Center was $6.9 million, which includes significant equipment investments. Of that, a $5.4 million grant was funded by the West Virginia Development Office through a bond sale from excess state lottery revenues; the remaining $1.5 million was from a county-sponsored bond issuance with the Bank of Romney and FNB, Inc., as community partners.”
In two years, the Center’s membership has grown to more than 1,100 members. The center is open to residents of both Romney (population 2,000) and surrounding northeastern West Virginia communities. It has members as young as six months and as old as 97 years and offers 165 classes per month from beginning yoga to aerobics, cycling to aquatic arthritis therapy, and family swim to advanced Pilates. The center has an annual payroll of nearly $900,000 and employs a 39-member staff.
Shoemaker, of the development authority, added that the award-winning facility may also have led to construction of a new hospital.
“By constructing the Wellness & Fitness Center, we began a relationship with Valley Health Systems from nearby northern Virginia that ultimately resulted in a much greater commitment to our community. The center, managed by a Valley Health company, was perhaps the catalyst for Valley Health's acquisition of Hampshire Memorial Hospital. As a result, Valley Health began construction of a new $35 million critical-care hospital and medical office building near the center, part of which is now utilized by Valley Health as a rehabilitation center, a winning combination.”
“The most common compliment we hear is that the center is the best thing that ever happened to Hampshire County,” said Jeff Juran, the center’s director. “Our center allows for a common place for community members to socialize and receive quality health information, which was never available before.”
FHLBank Pittsburgh is proud to sponsor CLP projects such as Hampshire Wellness & Fitness Center throughout Delaware, Pennsylvania and West Virginia.
More Success Stories…
Franklin Commons – An Uncommon Facility in Phoenixville, Pennsylvania
About four years ago, David and Marian Moskowitz decided to purchase a 100-year-old vacant and decaying industrial building located in Phoenixville, Pennsylvania and convert it into an educational, corporate and recreational facility called Franklin Commons.
Former Meadville School Closes the Book on Sitting Empty – Transformed into Affordable Housing and Commercial Office Space
After sitting empty nearly ten years, the former Meadville Area Junior High School closed the book on vacancy for good in the fall of 2007. The 90-year-old building received new life when it was transformed into a 56-unit residential apartment complex for low- to moderate-income families as well as a commercial office facility.
IMAX Opens in Reading, a Marquee CLP-Funded Project
On August 8, Pennsylvania Governor Ed Rendell and Reading Mayor Tom McMahon unveiled a new state-of-the-art 11-screen cinema complex in Reading, PA that provides residents the ultimate moviegoing experience.
Three Municipalities Upgrade Their
Infrastructure; Local Bank
Commits $8 Million with the Help of CLP
How
does one community bank meet the needs of three municipal
authorities, save local taxpayers money and enhance
its own reputation for excellent customer service?
Creative Refinancing Clears
Way for Senior Housing Renovation
At a ceremony at One West Penn Apartments in Carlisle,
PA, this July, U.S. Rep. Todd Platts and Christopher
Gulotta, executive director of the Cumberland County
Housing and Redevelopment Authority (CCHRA), announced
$6.7 million in Community Lending Program (CLP) funding
that has resulted in the innovative refinancing of
the complex's existing mortgage and a lowered interest
rate.
Updated Fire Company Facility Improves Equipment,
Service for Community
Mercer County State Bank, Sandy Lake, PA, led the way
in Community Lending Program funding in one local community.
Mercer County State Bank used a $600,000 CLP loan to
help the Stoneboro Fire Department replace an existing
fire company building in 2003. The loan enabled the
fire department to benefit from updated facilities,
as well as add two new bays for the firefighting equipment.
|
