HERMITAGE, PA. Builder eyes spot for new armory

The city is being asked to rezone some residential land for the new site.
HERMITAGE, Pa. -- The Pennsylvania National Guard doesn't have the money yet to replace its armory here, but a local developer is working to get a spot for the guard to build.
Daniel Leali of Leali Bros. Excavating Inc. of Industrial Road has asked the city to rezone 5.7 acres near the intersection of South Darby Road and U.S. Route 62 from single-family residential to residential high-density development district.
The change would allow government buildings to be built at the site.
The plan, according to Leali, is to build a new government armory there.
The location is near the Hickory VFW Post.
City commissioners introduced the rezoning ordinance at their meeting Tuesday, and it will be sent to both the city and Mercer County regional planning commissions for review and recommendations before coming back to the city commissioners for a final vote.
Next steps
The city has expressed interest in buying the old armory located on North Hermitage Road between the city building and Hickory High School. Part of the armory land already is leased by the city for Rodney White Olympic Park, located behind the city building and the armory.
Just how soon a new armory can be built is uncertain.
A spokesman for the Pennsylvania National Guard headquarters in Fort Indiantown Gap said such projects are funded 25 percent by the state and 75 percent by the federal government.
The National Guard already has a commitment from the state and will begin design work on the new facility in Hermitage, but the federal government hasn't allocated any funds for the project yet, the spokesman said, adding that a push for federal funding is likely in 2005.
General-fund budget
In other business, commissioners introduced a general-fund budget of $8,640,214 for 2004.
The spending plan calls for no change in taxes and no change in staff or services.
Property taxes would remain at 5 mills and wages taxes at 2.25 percent with 0.5 percent going to the Hermitage School District.