Santa Barbara County will be receiving more than $9.5 million in federal funds for community projects, under a law to be signed into law by President Joe Biden.
A total of $9,512,340 is going towards six community projects throughout the county to fund construction costs and improvements such as seismic and ADA upgrades, and more.
Congressman Salud Carbajal announced the funding last week.
Among these projects is the Goleta Valley Community Center, which will be under the management of the city of Goleta at the beginning of next year, and will be receiving $3 million for seismic and ADA upgrades.
“The city is ecstatic to be awarded $3 million for the necessary seismic/ADA upgrades to the Community Center as part of the Federal Government Omnibus Bill,” said Goleta Mayor Paula Perotte. “This funding will be critical to allow the reopening of the auditorium and return the GCC to a vibrant community hub.
“This treasured building can now be restored thanks to the efforts of Congressman Carbajal and his staff.”
Another local project receiving funding is the Santa Barbara Veterans Memorial Building, which will receive $1.3 million for seismic, electrical, and utility upgrades.
About $390,000 will go towards seismic upgrades, and upgrades to the electrical systems is estimated to cost $520,000. The remaining $390,000 will upgrade the water distribution systems, HVAC, windows, and utility regulation equipment.
Other community projects in the county receiving funding include $2.5 million for construction costs of the Escalante Meadows Community Center in Guadalupe, $1.7 million to restore LeRoy Park in Guadalupe, $900,000 for the Lompoc Health Clinic, and $112,340 to support initial engineering analysis for the Santa Ynez Band of Chumash Indians Waste Water Treatment Plant.
The project at the Lompoc Health Clinic involves $750,000 for renovations and connecting the clinic’s Wellness Center and Primary Care structures, and $200,000 to provide a generator for the primary care facility to support information technology infrastructure and facility resilience in the case of power outages.
“The Lompoc Health Care Center operated by Santa Barbara County Public Health serves 7,410 individuals with an average of over 34,000 patient visits annually,” said Dr. Van Do-Reynoso, Santa Barbara County public health director. “This Community Project Funding will allow us to expand our facility to provide greater access to high quality healthcare and will further enhance the overall patient experience.”
The funding for these projects comes from Community Project Funding requests from Congress members, each of whom was allowed a maximum of 10 requests for the fiscal year 2022. These projects, along with three projects in San Luis Obispo County, were secured by Carbajal.
More information on the funding and the requests can be found on Carbajal’s website.
— Noozhawk staff writer Serena Guentz can be reached at sguentz@noozhawk.com. Follow Noozhawk on Twitter: @noozhawk, @NoozhawkNews and @NoozhawkBiz. Connect with Noozhawk on Facebook.