FEDERAL FUND PRIORITIES SET; MCKEON ASKS CONGRESS FOR $16.39 MILLION FOR DISTRICT.

Byline: Jim Skeen Daily News Staff Writer

Looking to bring High Desert tax dollars back to his district, Rep. Howard ``Buck'' McKeon is seeking $16.39 million for Antelope Valley projects, including a new fairgrounds and a transportation center.

McKeon submitted requests for funding for five Antelope Valley projects for fiscal year 2000, but how much of the funding McKeon will be able to secure for the district is uncertain.

``It's very realistic we'll get some of the money,'' said McKeon spokesman David Foy. ``This is Congressman McKeon's way of trying to return tax dollars to the Antelope Valley.''

The Santa Clarita Republican asked for the local projects to be included in the Veterans Affairs and Housing and Urban Development and Independent Agencies Appropriations Act. Whether the projects are approved should be known by the end of summer, officials said.

McKeon is seeking $4.99 million toward a $6.7 million transportation hub that Palmdale plans to build. It would serve passengers of Metrolink trains, buses, van pools and car pools.

The congressman wants $4.8 million toward development of Palmdale's Heritage Airpark, an open-air museum intended to showcase aircraft built at Air Force Plant 42. The funding would go toward street improvements, a parking lot and other site work.

In another request for Palmdale, he wants $1.9 million toward widening Sierra Highway and adding a bikeway and landscaping.

McKeon has requested funding for two Lancaster projects: $3.75 million toward the relocation of the Antelope Valley Fairgrounds and $950,000 for an activity center at the National Soccer Complex.

Lancaster is working with the fair board on a plan to build a new fairgrounds near Avenue H and the Antelope Valley Freeway, then trade that property to the city for the old fairgrounds, where housing would be developed.

The relocation of the Antelope Valley Fairgrounds is estimated to cost about $12 million.

The other proposed grant for Lancaster would help the city develop a soccer complex that would serve Antelope Valley residents and also attract teams from other areas for tournaments. Lancaster officials say the city's Big Eight complex already attracts teams and tourists for softball games, and they expect the National Soccer Complex to do the same thing in that sport.

McKeon got $250,000 for the fairgrounds and $250,000 toward the soccer complex included in last year's bill.