Venkat announces $2.35 million in grants for McCandless
Allegheny County Delegation July 16, 2026 | 3:21 PM
McCANDLESS, July 16 – State Rep. Arvind Venkat, D-Allegheny, today announced $2.35 million in grant funding from the Redevelopment Assistance Capital Program to support two projects in the Town of McCandless – one aiding local youth recreation and the other benefiting first responders.
North Allegheny School District will receive $1.25 million to renovate the school’s aquatics center, including upgrades to extend the life of the existing diving and teaching pool, the creation of a separate diving well, and expansion of spectator and locker areas.
“North Allegheny’s aquatics center helps keep many of our local students and community members active and healthy,” Venkat said. “The swimming and diving teams at North Allegheny are frequent WPIAL champions, with the girls having 18 consecutive titles and the boys winning back-to-back PIAA state championships this year.
“Athletics are crucial for many of our students, and these funds will go a long way to help our student-athletes achieve these regional and state victories.”
The other local grant in this announcement will award $1.1 million to the Allegheny Police and Fire Academy to support electrical work, replacing the academy’s existing generator and installing a new, larger generator to better support the entire building and its role as an emergency operations center.
“Our first responders help keep our community safe every day, and they deserve the necessary resources to continue that work,” Venkat said. “This funding will help ensure that in the case of an emergency, such as a storm that knocks out power, our police officers and firefighters can continue their lifesaving work.
“I look forward to seeing what both of these grants do for our community, and I will continue working to bring even more state funds back to the North Hills.”
Venkat’s support for the police academy grant was in collaboration with state Sen. Lindsey Williams, while the aquatics center grant was in collaboration with Williams, state Rep. Jeremy Shaffer and state Sen. Devlin Robinson.
The Redevelopment Assistance Capital Program, also known as RACP, supports the design, acquisition and construction of regional economic, cultural, civic, recreational and historical improvement projects and is administered by the state Office of the Budget.