Renovations begin at Washington Area Senior Citizens Center
Courtesy of Washington Area Senior Citizens Center
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Renovations are underway at the Washington Area Senior Citizens Center with designs on making it a more attractive facility.
Barbara Miller, executive director, said the first round of renovations at the building at 69 W. Maiden St. in Washington includes painting the building and electrical work.
“Our building was pretty bland,” Miller said Wednesday. “It’s an old building. We’re hoping to make this a warmer, nicer place where people want to come and join in on activities.”
Funding has come from various sources, including a $15,000 facade grant through the Washington Business District Authority, $173,500 in county Local Shared Account funding and a $36,000 donation from a foundation in New Jersey.
The facade grant program is funded annually by the Washington County Local Share Account. Businesses can apply for funding to be used for exterior improvements, such as visible roof repairs, gutter and downspout replacement or repairs and power washing.
Miller said the current renovations are just the beginning. She hopes to have the main dining room and an attached room painted, along with ew furniture and flooring for the spaces.
“Right now those rooms look almost institutional,” Miller said. “We want to make them look like a nice restaurant where you can sit in for a while and have a nice conversation with your friends.”
While the funding received thus far has been helpful, Miller admitted more is welcome.
“We’d love to have an elevator,” Miller said. “We don’t have an elevator in this building, which means we can only use half of its capacity.”
An elevator to make the building more accessible to older adults has been a goal of Miller’s since becoming executive director in February 2022.
She said renovations have not been done in some time and she hopes to have them completed in about a year-and-a-half.
“The building itself is the hub of it all,” Miller said.”We want to make it so everybody can enjoy it. I’m a senior too and I’d like to leave this place better than I found it. It’s a big undertaking, but it will be fun. That’s the goal, to make it a nicer, friendlier, prettier place.”