Claremore Daily Progress

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July 18, 2008

Senior Center plans on hold

By TOM FINK





News that a grant appplication has been denied to aid the consolidation of the Claremore Senior Citizen Center, Pelivan Transit and Rogers County Adult Day Care has city officials and program directors looking elsewhere for funding.

Sharon McDonald applied for a capital grant in March on the center’s behalf from the Donald W. Reynolds Foundation of Las Vegas, Nev.

Within the initial application, McDonald described the individual entity’s needs and outlined a tentative resolution through “centralization” of the Shelter, Pelivan and Adult Day Care, all of which share several clients and customers.

City of Claremore has donated 10 acres near Dupont and Chambers Streets for the new center.

The proposed three-in-one facility could cost as much as $6 million.

“When we found out we weren’t going to be getting the grant, it wasn’t surprising, but it was something of a let-down for everyone,” McDonald said. “We’re going to be needing a new (senior) center — there’s no way around it, and because of increasing construction costs, our projections on the cost of a common center are now around $6 million.”

As a City of Claremore entity, the Senior Center’s staff is salaried by the city budget, while its 200 low-cost senior meals served daily (more than 1,000 a week at a cost to seniors of $1.75 in-house, and $1.85 carry-out) is subsidized by a grant from United Way.

Since the Center’s budget has a line item designated for transportation, Pelivan Transit is centered at the Senior Center, but is frequently faced with parking difficulties from lack of space at the 116 North Missouri location.

Rogers County Adult Day Care’s need to “share a wall” with the Senior Center is also due to need for space and the fact that it was ordered to vacate the previous facility at the health department in 208 due to mold problems.

McDonald said the “next step” toward raising funds is to apply for matching grants, and assistance from the public through private donations or fundraisers.

“We’re going to set aside some money in the budget this year for a conceptual design to show the public before we have to make an appeal to them,” McDonald said.

“The (Donald W. Reynolds) grant would have done a lot toward helping us get where we need to go with the new center, but we’re still going to do whatever we can to make it come together. It’s something that’s been needed for years, and with the baby boomer population growing older and soon to be needing a place to get together and socialize, it’s a need that’s only going to become more dire in the coming years.”

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