The money will be used in the development of the new YMCA facility.
The project has expected to include a regional recreation center with a sports field located on a seven-acre tract near Exit 62 off Interstate 80.
The new facility will triple the size of the current Y and include a pool, a full-size gymnasium, an indoor track, a wellness center, a weight room, multiple purpose rooms, and locker facilities for men, women and families.
The Clarion Y is one of only four in the state to receive the $3 million grant.
This money brings the total raised to more than $10 million for the new Y facility, according to Milissa Bauer and Al Lander, co-chairmen of the Y’s capital campaign.
To demonstrate the county-wide support of the project, more than 100 letters of support accompanied the grant application.
“From the beginning of the campaign, this project was a county-wide project,” said Y Director Jesse Kelley. “The Clarion County YMCA has exploded in growth over the past few years, with residents from all over the county turning to the Y for its wide variety of social, wellness, educational and recreational programs,” Kelley said.
The Clarion County YMCA recorded more than 82,000 visits in 2015 for programs and events, outgrowing its current location and increasing demand for additional programming.
“The new YMCA will be more convenient to county residents being centrally located off Exit 62 on Interstate 80, less than a 25-minute drive from almost all areas of the county,” Kelley said.
“This grant would not have been awarded had it not been for our local leaders. When the grant application became held up in the review process, Rep. Donna Oberlander knew who to call and how to move it forward. Her experience in Harrisburg was invaluable,” Bauer said.
“Rep. Oberlander led the charge but had key support from Sen. Scott Hutchinson, U.S. Rep. Glenn Thompson and Democratic Chair Bill Miller. It was a bipartisan project to get this award for Clarion County,” Lander added.