Orwigsburg Fire Dept. has received a substantial boost to it capital campaign aimed at building a new firehouse in the borough.
US Rep. Dan Meuser (PA-9), who represents Schuylkill County in Congress, announced that Friendship Hose Co. No. 1 in Orwigsburg will get $2.225 million from FY26 Agriculture Appropriations legislation that was recently signed into law.
It’s one of three projects to receive significant federal funding, the Congressman announced Friday.
Orwigsburg’s money will help its only fire company build a new, modern firehouse at the site of its existing, cramped building on N. Liberty St.
Back in January, the fire company launched a $6 million capital campaign to help construct the facility. It hoped to collect money from local, state, and federal sources.
Meuser also announced that the Temple-St. Luke’s Rural Dental College in Tamaqua will receive $2 million from the same funding.
That money will help with the construction of a rural dental education facility in the borough. Twenty students are expected to complete their clinical training at the facility, which is to be built at the site of the former Rite Aid store in Tamaqua.
“Pennsylvania is in desperate need of dentists and dental hygienists in our rural counties,” State Rep. Jamie Barton says in a separate announcement. “Temple University’s new rural dental school coming to Tamaqua addresses our rural dentist shortage and opens up general dental care in downtown Tamaqua for residents of Schuylkill and surrounding counties.”
The third project getting federal funding, announced by Meuser is the new Shenandoah Center for Health, Education, Business and the Arts, which will receive $750,000.
The money will complete the buildout of a new federally-qualified health center and business incubator in downtown Shenandoah.
The facility will expand access to medical care, support workforce development, and provide space for small-business growth and community programming.
Meuser says in a statement announcing the funding, “This nearly $5 million in federal funding my office helped to secure for Schuylkill County will help to improve the lives of the great people who live and work here.
“These three community projects will strengthen public safety, expand access to healthcare, and support long-term economic revitalization across the county,” he says.
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