by Doug Radunich
STAFF WRITER
The Grantsville Senior Citizens Center will finally be turned over to Tooele County, paving the way for its expansion and renovation.
The turnover of the center from Grantsville City was approved by the City Council during last night's council meeting. The move was proposed by Tooele County Commissioner Bruce Clegg a year ago.
Jerry Edwards, vice president of the senior citizens center board, said he had been trying to get the center expanded for a couple of years now, but the city still owned the building and couldn't come up with the necessary funding. He said the county had wanted to get the expansion project going but couldn't because it didn't own the property.
"We're hoping we can start moving things along better, now that we have only one entity to work with," Edwards said. "But I'm not faulting the city or county on the fact that things have taken so long. The city of Grantsville couldn't come up with the funding, and the county had to have the title to the property in order to lay down the brick and mortar. What's happened now is in the best interest of the senior citizens, but I'd still like to see the city and the county work together on this."
Local officials say there were several reasons for the expansion delay. Diane Caldwell, Grantsville Senior Citizens Center director, said the project was waiting on a final OK from Grantsville City Mayor Byron Anderson. Clegg said some of the holdup came from deciding who should own or remodel the center, as well as seniors in the area having a problem with it going over to the county.
Edwards said the next step is to look into different ways of funding the expansion.
"We've been looking into different groups that can help us with funding," he said. "We'd like to see if we can get funding from local Tooele County businesses, and we may also ask people in the community if they would like to help out. We hope they would support the building and furnishing of this project."
Caldwell said construction plans for the expansion are still being worked out.
"We will develop a plan and have someone come in to survey the building and see what's possible," she said. "We will also see how much money is available for us to use for the expansion, and we'll try to get grants and ask for donations. We've got some big ideas, and we are excited to finally start the expansion."
Edwards said the size and scale of the expansion project must also be taken into consideration.
"We have to figure out how much to expand, and everyone has a good idea of how big this expansion has to be," he said. "We have to see what we can agree on with the seniors and Tooele County."
Plans have included adding on a new kitchen with adequate freezer and cooking space, and ventilation hoods over the oven; a dining room to allow visiting seniors to eat together, rather than in shifts; an expanded crafts room; a new boiler; and two new bathrooms. As of now, the center's dining room also has to be used for activities such as games, dancing, and arts and crafts, due to lack of adequate space.
Edwards said the deal still needs to be finalized with the county, a process he expects to happen quickly. On Tuesday, however, several seniors at the center were already looking ahead with high hopes.
"Any way we can get improvement and expansion here is great for us," said senior center attendee Elaine Quinn.
Evelyn Brown, another senior center attendee, was also happy to see the expansion process finally move ahead.
"They've been wanting to expand the building for about three years now, and now that the county owns the building, it can get done," she said.
dougrad@tooeletranscript.com