But since only one of four buildings at the site is currently usable without spending money on upgrades, the site's future usage has still not been determined.

One room in the church's former administration building is being used by the county sheriff's office for writing reports, and the rest of that building is used for city recreation programs during the summer and rented out for much of the rest of the year.

The other three buildings are not in compliance with current building codes or the Americans with Disabilities Act, and would have to be at least partially renovated in order to be suitable for public use.

John Feemster, a SASCC board member, said he would like to see the old church facility—commonly referred to now as the North Campus—be turned into a new senior center to relieve space constraints encountered at the current Allendale Avenue facility.

"We are very limited in the space we can use," he said. "We have a terrible problem with logistics. It can take people 20, 25 minutes to go a block and a half."

Feemster said that the North Campus' Fellowship Hall would need new disability act-compliant bathrooms and a new door to be used as a senior center, but that plans for those changes have already been drawn up by architect Warren Heid. Though an initial informal bid of more than $150,000 was estimated for those changes, Feemster said that could be an inflated bid from a contractor who feels the job is too small to be worth the time to complete it.

Mayor Ann Waltonsmith said the Saratoga City Council was set to discuss the North Campus at its May 19 meeting, but that discussion was pushed back in order to gather more information.

"We were going to decide if we were going to do some fixing up of the building, but we don't have a sense yet of the state budget," Waltonsmith said. "We also don't know if we might use part of it temporarily for the sheriff's department if they decide to renovate their building. They don't have their plans together yet."

Genie Dee, SASCC executive director, said the organization's concerns about bringing the buildings up to code was misinterpreted by some city officials as a desire not to move there. But she said SASCC administration was and is still quite interested in moving operations to the site, or even moving other city programs to the campus to free up space at the current senior and adult care centers.

Dee recognized that such a move would probably have to be in the future because of the city's financial struggles, and the city should begin long-term planning for the North Campus.

"This is just difficult time for everybody," she said. "I think we simply need to continue working together. What we need the council to do is make the improvements that would make Fellowship Hall rentable, because that would help as well."

Waltonsmith said the council would discuss the facility's future later in the year, when it has a better sense of its financial situation.

"We would discuss who's going to use [which buildings] and what they need," she said. "The bottom line is that the bathrooms are ADA-approved."

Whatever happens with the building, Dee said she hopes the city keeps it. She said she has heard speculation that it has considered selling the property. The city purchased the building for $4 million in 2002, and it could probably receive much more than that now.

"It's really the most practical option that we're aware of for any kind of city activities in the near future," she said. "If the city were to sell it they'd be unlikely to find any property in future at nearly as good a price."

Waltonsmith said she, too, has heard that speculation, but selling the North Campus is an option she would like to avoid.

"The city council hasn't been ready to do that," she said. "We go through periods of having a little bit of extra and not having enough. To sell your land to maintain services, which are long-term, you get a one-time amount of money. Usually, people try to raise tax revenue in more a permanent way. Otherwise, you're kind of cannibalizing your property."