Gov. Ed Rendell yesterday presented McKeesport officials with $4.4 million in loans and grants, which he said will help the city revitalize its central business district.

Standing under a white tent pitched in the middle of Fifth Avenue in downtown McKeesport, Mr. Rendell told a crowd of more than 100 people that the state's $4,447,345 will support a series of projects in the city, including renovations to downtown buildings, infrastructure updates, improvements to community parks and services and street repair.

The funds will be applied to seven city projects including the redevelopment of Midtown Plaza and the new city hall project ($1.2 million); sewer line reconstruction and other projects in the city's Christy Park neighborhood ($1.9 million); street work on Fifth Avenue ($929,000); McKeesport Hospital Foundation to help the hospital continue community services to residents (75,000); and tax credits for a new Sky Bank branch building ($98,570).

Sky Bank's old building at 500 Fifth Avenue has become the new city hall. Including the state tax credits announced yesterday, the bank is getting tax breaks worth $500,000 for the donation of the city hall building. Sky Bank constructed a smaller bank building several blocks away.

"You will see that we have tried to address some key issues," Mr. Rendell said. "This is a building block to ensure that this community is on its way back to re-development."

Noting that the state's unemployment rate was recently recorded at 4.3 percent -- the lowest it has been in six years -- Gov. Rendell promised that the state will do its part to invest in communities that need an economic boost.

"We've only just begun here in McKeesport," he declared to wild applause. "As long as you keep coming up with good projects, this won't be our last announcement here."

The funding package was coordinated through the Community Action Team and it included funds from the Pennsylvania Departments of Community and Economic Development, Transportation, Conservation and Natural Resources, as well as PennVest.

The governor said 49 other communities have been identified for similar funding packages throughout the commonwealth and are in various stages of planning and development. But the governor also cautioned that communities should not consistently look to the state for their economic salvation.

"[Communities] should look to us to help, but nobody should expect us to fund all their needs. There has to be serious private-sector involvement and a real spirit among community leaders towards rebuilding their areas," he said.

On an unusually warm November afternoon, an exhilarated McKeesport Mayor James Brewster said the city, which has suffered from many years of economic downturn, is on its way back to economic viability.

"Three years ago they told us McKeesport was dead and buried. But now the governor has given us hope. We are tough and hard-working people," Mr. Brewster said. "We are not going to let this city die."

For Alexander Holovich, 63, a longtime McKeesport resident, the governor's announcement couldn't have come at better time.

"This is just what we need in this town," he said. "A shot in the arm."