The sun finally peeked out on the city of Warren on Saturday, just in time for Gov. Ed Rendell's arrival.

And Rendell brought along some sunshine of his own to spread around the community in the form of a $4.75 million check for the Impact Warren project to move forward with plans to build a parking garage, and $200,000 for the regional cancer center at Warren General Hospital.

Rendell spoke to a crowd of about 60 under the gazebo at Breeze Point Landing and commended elected officials from the community for their ability to work together on Impact Warren.
"You have done a terrific job," he told them.

He praised the development project and recalled when he was first approached about Impact Warren.

"I've seen the waterfront, seen the chance to redevelop, and what I saw literally blew me away," he said.

The $4.75 million Rendell contributed on Saturday is in addition to the $3.2 million he had previously given to Impact Warren. This money, which is from the Redevelopment Assistance Capital Program, will be used to create a parking garage with approximately 650 spaces on Clark St.

Warren Mayor Mark Philips calls the parking garage "the lynchpin" for the other components of the development project, because the need for parking will be created by the other parts of Impact Warren such as the housing development, Northwest Savings Bank expansion, a conference center and hotel.

Rendell agreed and talked about recent commercials he did in Philadelphia that promoted the Warren area. The commercials were successful in promoting Warren as a tourist destination, he said, but, currently Warren lacks the infrastructure to accommodate all persons interested in visiting here.

"People love to come up here, but the biggest problem is not enough hotel space," he told the crowd.
Rendell had only positive things to say about Impact Warren, including the number of local and state lawmakers, and private investors all working for a common goal. He said Warren can be a model for small municipalities in America.

State Rep. Jim Lynch, 65th District, told the crowd that out of his 12 years of office, Warren County has received more state money for projects in the past two years with Rendell as governor than the other ten years combined.

Rendell quipped, "I'll keep coming back to Warren County if you keep coming up with good projects."

According to Rendell, Impact Warren is an example of a great use of government funds. The estimated $80 million project has so far only relied on approximately $8 million in state funds, because of private investors and federal money that have contributed to the project.

State Sen. Joe Scarnati reiterated the theme by saying that legislators from Warren would continue to "roll up their sleeves" and work together. He emphasized that they "don't want a hand-out from Harrisburg, but a hand in getting help."