Bracken and Fleming counties received $11,023,200 in grants to fund health, safety, and education initiatives, Gov. Andy Beshear announced Tuesday.
The funding will go toward renovating an ambulance station, rehabilitating a senior center and supporting career and technical training for students and community members.
Bracken County will receive $454,000 in Community Development Block Grant funds to renovate its current senior center in Brooksville. The renovations will include new doors, windows, flooring, ceiling, roofing, HVAC, parking and other general improvements as needed. The adjacent community outreach building will also be renovated.
“The renovations to our senior center will ensure we are maintaining the facility to house critical programs for our seniors in Bracken County,” Bracken County Judge/Executive Tina Teegarden said. “These upgrades will help Bracken County for years to come.”
The county will also receive $1 million in Community Development Block Grant Coronavirus Response funds to renovate the current Bracken County Emergency Medical Services building located in Brooksville.
The renovations will include the installation of new windows and garage bay doors, a new HVAC system and a new concrete exit drive. The county will also construct a new addition to the current EMS building that will contain emergency quarantining rooms for staff exposed to COVID-19 and a new drive-through garage bay to allow for quicker efficient response times.
“Our first responders have been heroic throughout the pandemic,” Teegarden said. “This project will help us support them and will make Bracken County a safer place for all of our residents. We want to thank Gov. Beshear, the Department for Local Government and Buffalo Trace Area Development District staff for helping us secure this much-needed funding.”
The largest chunk of money is $9,569,200 and will go to the Fleming County School District to renovate the existing career education space at Fleming County High School, as well as construct a new multipurpose space for project-based learning, workforce training and adult education. The new 15,000 square foot, collaborative, flexible space will be called the Fleming Rehabilitation, Innovation and Training Center, or FRIT Center.
Students, along with community members and businesses, can use the FRIT Center for educational programming. The center will include an accredited childcare program, which removes a barrier for parents attending classes, and provides real-world work experience for Fleming County High School students enrolled in the Early Childhood Education Pathway.
“The announcement today has been a project five years in the making,” said Brian Creasman, superintendent of Fleming County Schools. “The funds will add much-needed flexible space to our vocational center, along with a child care center that will not only help prepare tomorrow’s teachers but help the local workforce remain working. The vision of the space is to serve as an advanced training center for students and the current workforce, and as an incubator to attract jobs to Fleming County and the region.”