SHARON Group plans to take over grant application

SHARON, Pa. -- Sharon Industrial Development Authority will meet at 6 p.m. today to take over the grant application process for the redevelopment of the former Westinghouse plant on Sharpsville Avenue.
Chairman John Dolan said Monday that the newly reactivated SIDA is expected to hear an update on the project plan, then vote to take on the job of helping the developer, Winner Development LLC, secure state funding for the work.
The developer had a $7 million state grant set aside for the project, secured with the assistance of the Mercer County Industrial Development Authority, but the grant offer was withdrawn in September 2002.
The state said Winner Development LLC failed to provide project details such as where the private financing for the total $77 million project would come from and engineering drawings to show what the project would look like.
The state said that Winner Development would have to submit a new application if it wants any state help.
Winner Development dropped out of its partnership with the MCIDA and asked Sharon to use its SIDA to go after the money. The city reactivated the body specifically for this project.
The company has scaled back the scope of the project from the original $77 million to just $18 million but is still hoping it can get the full $7 million in state assistance.
The 850,000-square-foot plant has been vacant since Westinghouse Electric Corp. shut down operations there in 1985.