The borough is planning to move the senior center from its longtime but aging location at Church and McKinnon streets to the community center’s multipurpose room.
The new space, directly across the hallway from the community gym, will receive several upgrades to accommodate its new use, including a full kitchen remodel and new furniture, according to Borough Manager Mason Villarma.
The borough also plans on reserving parking at the community center for the senior center bus, which is used for taking seniors to medical appointments, the post office or to grocery stores.
Open four days a week, the senior center provides meals — both in person and delivery —to about three dozen Wrangell senior citizens each day. It requests a $5 donation but never denies a meal to anyone. The center is open for those age 60 or older.
The borough owns the senior center building, which it provides rent free to Catholic Community Service. The Juneau-based nonprofit hires staff and operates the center, the same as it does for nine other senior centers around Southeast.
Villarma said the borough intends to sell the Church Street building and reinvest those funds back into the center at its new location.
He estimates the borough could receive around $200,000 for the center’s current building.
“We will probably use that money to form some sort of endowment for the senior center,” he said. “That $200,000 sale could now contribute toward senior center upgrades, and I think that’s a much more sustainable strategy.”
He said the decision for the center’s transition is merely practical, and that the borough does “not have the funds to keep (the current building) around.” Instead, selling the decades-old building would allow the borough to consolidate the senior center into a building it is already maintaining.
The borough manager added that the new location would be a larger space that might open the door to more grant opportunities due to the recreation center also serving as a location for afterschool activities thanks to the new Wrangell Kids Club, which Parks and Recreation cofounded alongside the Irene Ingle Public Library and Nolan Center.
Currently, the multipurpose room in the community center’s kitchen is rather small and not suited to the needs of the senior center. Villarma said the borough will be sure to upgrade the facility before the senior meals program moves in, which he hopes for this winter.
The senior center’s relocation to the community center comes as Catholic Community Service is dealing with a tightening budget. Federal funding covers about a third of the program’s budget, and federal pandemic relief aid has expired. In addition, the borough assembly this year stopped contributing to the center’s operations — it was $13,500 last year — though the borough does donate utilities for the building.
Staff at Catholic Community Service, the nonprofit that operates the senior center, could not be reached for comment.
Villarma said the borough has talked with Catholic Community Service Executive Director Erin Walker-Tolles about the opening stages of the center’s migration to new quarters.
Reader Comments(0)