Jun 18, 2015 3 min read

DONORA – A dozen top administrators from Community College of Allegheny County toured the closed Donora Elementary Center Thursday as they consider the building as an option for expanding the school’s Washington County education center.

They were joined by Pennsylvania lawmakers, including state Rep. Peter J. Daley, who asked for a follow-up meeting soon with CCAC officials to discuss seeking money to reopen the school.

“We are looking at ways at how we can expand our footprint in Washington County,” said CCAC President Quintin Bullock, who attended Thursday’s meeting in Donora.

College administrators discussed a plan for the course offerings they intend to expand upon in Washington County, including nursing and such trades as welding, and said they saw potential in the two-story brick school Ringgold School District closed in fall 2011.

The borough purchased the school last year at auction from the school district for $24,000 to protect it from falling into disrepair and to be able to market the building rather than allow it to be demolished. The building has interior moisture problems, paint is chipping from the hallway walls and there are lead paint and asbestos issues.

Donora Mayor Don Pavelko said a borough resident who knows Bullock called the college president to see if he would be interested in using it for CCAC. Bullock traveled to Donora to take a look at the building in March, and “he was impressed,” Pavelko said.

“My thoughts were the college using a couple classrooms or one half of a floor,” Pavelko said. “(Bullock) said he’s interested in the whole deal. I hope this will lead to negotiations.”

The college currently enrolls as many as 400 students a year at its education center at Washington Crown Center mall in North Franklin Township. There are five classrooms there, and they are not adequate for offering some programs, a CCAC administrator said.

With the growth in Washington County from the Marcellus Shale natural gas drilling boom, the college also Thursday discussed offering courses in carpentry, electrical trades, heavy machinery, heating and air conditioning and commercial truck driving.

“It’s a great opportunity,” said Daley, D-California, who has supported establishing a Mon Valley community college for many years.

“It’s an educational revitalization for the Mon Valley,” he said.

Daley later Thursday wrote to Gov. Tom Wolf asking the governor to support the Donora project and meet with him to discuss cost estimates on bringing CCAC to Donora.

“I think this prospect is too good for anyone to pass up, as it is a win-win for all parties involved,” Daley stated in his letter to Wolf.

Donora’s economy spun into a decline following the closings of U.S. Steel zinc and steel mills that began in the 1950s. The downtown has since lost all three of its bank branches and doesn’t have a service station or grocery store.

The borough is home to about 4,700 people, a population that has been in steady decline for two decades.

The college indicated it wants to locate in an area such as Donora that has public bus transportation.

Bullock said the college doesn’t have a timeline on when it wants to have a Washington County center in place. He said administrators now need to discuss how “to give Washington County access to a competitive education at an affordable cost.”