Lehigh County Commissioners approved a $1 million grant from the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania under the Redevelopment Assistance Capital Program to assist with DeSales University’s Medical Studies Building project in Lehigh County.

The vote was 7-1, with Commissioner Percy Dougherty voting against the pass-through grant. Commissioner Zakiya Smalls was absent from the hybrid in-person and online meeting.

The grant mechanism is frequently referred to as a “pass-through grant” because the money was not part of the Lehigh County budget process, but was approved by the state. Nevertheless, it requires Lehigh County approval.

According to an announcement from Pa. State Senator Pat Browne, the building will be a 40,000-square-foot facility, which will house the doctor of physical therapy and speech language pathology programs.

The building will contain labs needed for hands-on instruction for both DPT (Doctor of Physical Therapy) and SLP (Speech Language Pathologist), as well as administrative and faculty offices, a lecture hall, classrooms, a student lounge and storage areas.

Department of Community and Economic Development of Lehigh County, in conjunction with Capital Blue Cross, has applied for and been awarded a $1 million grant from the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania under the Redevelopment Assistance Capital Program to assist with the Harrisburg insurer new $4 million building called Capital Blue Cross Connect at 1221 Hamilton Street in Allentown.

In other business, Lehigh Commissioners appointed David S. Jones Sr. to the Lehigh Valley Planning Commission. Jones is a former Lehigh County Commissioner.