LEMONT FURNACE, Pa. — It’s been a little more than two months since Penn State announced the Fayette County Eberly Campus would be one of the seven branch campuses closing in the next two years.
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Now Fayette County leaders are working to see what they can do to make sure something replaces Penn State once they move out.,
“It’ll be a big loss,” said April Walters of Uniontown. “There’s a lot of students who go to college and that there.”
The Fayette County Commissioners agree.
“We’re very disappointed in the decision, obviously, but we’re determined to turn this into a positive thing for the county’s future,” said Commissioner Vincent Vicites.
The county has officially formed what Vicites called the “Eberly Campus Transition Committee.”
The group has been in talks with the Board of Trustees at Penn State about next steps for the campus.
Vicites said they want it to remain an education facility.
“Either educationally or in the trades,” he told Channel 11’s Andrew Havranek. “We think we can accomplish that.”
Those in the community would like to see that as well, not only for students and faculty, but because it’s a big resource to the entire county.
“They need to put another school there of some form,” Walters added.
Penn State owns the land and the buildings.
Commissioners want to learn about the campus and what it takes to run it, so they’ll know what would be needed for a different school to buy it, and what would happen to grants and donations made to the current facility.
Talks so far, Vicites said, have gone well.
“It’s positive at this point but there are some unknowns we have to understand and become cognizant of,” he said.
There’s no date set for the committee’s next meeting.
“We’re going to stay focused on this and make something good happen,” Vicites said.
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