BLAKELY, Pa. — The Mid Valley Hospital in Blakely sits prominently along Main Street. For years, it served the community as a hospital and, more recently, as an urgent care center under Commonwealth Health.
The health system moved its services from the property, and Blakely Borough Manager Christopher Paone reached out to Commonwealth Health, hoping they would allow the borough to purchase the hospital and two neighboring properties. As of Wednesday, Paone says they signed an agreement for the sale.
"There is not a lot of open space in town. A lot of it is mountainous, most of it's developed. So we were very fortunate. We feel that we struck gold here," Paone said.
The Borough Council gave the blessing to buy the property for no more than $700,000.
Paone hopes to transform the hospital into a community and civic center, something the borough does not have.
"We'd love to have basketball courts we'd love to be able to provide space for birthday parties and small events inside," said Paone.
Paone hopes adding a senior center and even a daycare would be beneficial to everyone.
Word of the potential sale spread fast through the community.
"My boys will be thrilled. They're constantly playing sports. We're always in our backyard. We live right down the street from us, so it'll be amazing," said Blakely resident Melissa Wiseman.
For others, it was just as important to know that this landmark, which has stood tall on the hill in the borough for more than a century, will remain.
"Everybody went to the Mid Valley Hospital, including myself and my entire family. That was our hospital, so we're glad that it's staying here," said Cheryl Aniska from Archbald.
The closing is scheduled for the end of May.
Borough officials will be applying for grant money to fund the potential upgrades to the property.