TRIPIL adds to holdings near former YWCA property
A community group working to renovate the 80-year-old YWCA building in Washington has expanded its property holdings adjacent to the parking lot in the rear of the building.
According to RealStats, which tracks real estate sales and purchases in Washington County, Tri-County Patriots for Independent Living Southwestern Pennsylvania Disability Services recently purchased the building housing C. Bennett Auto Supply at 55 W. Railroad St. The building, which was purchased for $210,000, is adjacent to the parking lot at the rear of the YWCA, 42 W. Maiden St.
Rich Cleveland, a local grant writer and consultant for TRIPIL, said Friday the building will be used to house a bus, numerous vans and several cars the organization owns.
He said the building’s interior will be renovated to include an office and restrooms.
TRIPIL, which is currently headquartered at 69 W. Beau St., is in the early stages of preparing to restore the YWCA building, a project it has estimated will cost $8.9 million.
The organization, which provides services for people with cognitive, sensory and physical disabilities, spent $500,000 to buy the building and an adjacent lot, and has several million dollars in commitments toward the project. It recently received $500,000 from the 2013 Local Share Account provided from slot machines revenue from The Meadows Racetrack & Casino. In late December, it also received a $1.5 million state grant.
The YWCA building, dedicated in 1929, cost $214,000 to build and furnish. Over several decades, its uses included a residence for working women, a soup kitchen, meeting rooms for more than 40 local organizations and a child care center, but has been vacant for more than a decade.
Cleveland said Friday that the organization recently advertised for proposals to hire an environmental consultant to provide specifications for asbestos removal from the YWCA building, which he said will be renovated in two phases.
Once the LSA money is released later this year, Cleveland said work will begin on renovating the building’s entrance and the four floors that contain offices. A new elevator will also be installed. He said total cost of the first phase will be about $3 million.
When the work is completed, TRIPIL’s staff will move into the building, expected to be in early 2016.
Cleveland said the second phase, also estimated at $3 million, will include renovations to the gymnasium and other portions of the rear of the building.