BRIDGEVILLE, Pa. (AP) _ Mental health advocates want state lawmakers to use the proceeds from the sale of Mayview State Hospital near Bridgeville to fight mental illness.

The state plans to sell the hospital's 335-acre site. Preliminary estimates put the value of the property at $2 million.

Generally, money from such sales goes to the state's general fund.

But the Pittsburgh-based Consumer Health Coalition and other groups are asking western Pennsylvania lawmakers to lobby others to put the money in a fund that would benefit community mental health programs.

The groups made their pitch Wednesday night at a public meeting of the Mayview State Hospital Land Reuse Task Force.

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