Senior center opens after week-long refurbishment
Good As New
By Kara Chalmers
After being closed for refurbishment for a week, the Saratoga Senior Center and Adult Care Center opened Dec. 11, looking as good as new.
All walls have been painted a new bright white from floor to ceiling, and there is new carpet throughout the two centers. New window coverings are in the works and the kitchen cabinets have been resurfaced. The lounges and offices have new furniture.
Mary Goulart, executive director for the Saratoga Area Senior Coordinating Council, is thrilled with the improvements and said they have been a long time coming.
"This is so huge for us," she said. She added that she would like to stage an open house, possibly in February, so that the community can see the improvements.
Federal community development block grant money funded the renovations, except for the furniture, which was funded by a barbecue and auction last summer. The event brought in $20,000, after expenses, for the senior center.
CDBG money also funded the $72,500 purchase of a 24-by-60 square foot portable building for the Senior Center that will be located in the parking lot next to the ACC.
The refurbishment project, including the purchase of the portable, should end up costing $144,000, according to Paula Reeve in the city manager's office.
The modular building's placement in front of the ACC is ideal since there is parking nearby, wheelchair access, and the walk to the Senior Center is short, Goulart said. Also, the building will be close to the preschool, so that the city can offer more intergenerational programs than it does now, she said.
Half of the modular building will be used as a classroom and half will be a conference room for lectures or meetings. The building will also have restrooms, a kitchen, an office and a break room. Goulart said the modular building's furniture would be partially funded by an anonymous donation and partially by the funds that the auction raised.
"We'll be able to offer more things than ever before," Goulart said, referring to the expanded amount of space.
Goulart's dream is to start a "seniors in technology" program--to teach seniors about the Internet, email and computers in general--at the center. Now, with the additional space due to the modular building, the program might become a reality. Goulart said that groups in the community have already offered her equipment for a computer lab, as well as staff time.
While the city provides in kind services for the senior center--such as the building, utilities, phone service, minimal maintenance and for the last few years, $15,000 from its general fund--the center must raise the rest of its yearly budget, which is $400,000, through donations and grants.
|
Saratoga, California Since 1955
