MIDDLE SMITHFIELD TOWNSHIP, Pa. -- A township in the Poconos could soon get a new community center thanks to a large grant that came from Pennsylvania gambling revenue.
A field at Echo Lake Park in Middle Smithfield Township could soon be home to a community center.
If all goes as planned, the new building there will be a community gathering place. It will have a museum, a library, and a Red Cross shelter.
"A sense of place is very important. This is a centralized location for the township," said township supervisor Annette Atkinson.
The township received a $250,000 grant from state gambling revenue to help with the project.
Atkinson told us the township will start accepting bids from contractors for the project next month. The budget is extremely tight.
"If the bids are too high, we may not have a project."
She hopes contractors will provide fair costs.
"Sometimes the bids come in a little more costly than they would have once somebody hears that you got a grant, but that shouldn't be the case at all," Atkinson said.
If the project moves forward after the bid phase, construction will begin right away and the building should be ready by the end of the year.