04/22/2008
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Staff file photo by Jim Evansfrom the Kennebec Journal
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The work, estimated to cost $489,000, will start in July and be completed in February next year, says Debra Silver, vice president of operations and public education for Spectrum Generations, the nonprofit agency that operates the center.
Silva said the building will be made more attractive and programs will focus on health and wellness."We want to change our dining experience -- have a cafe with extended hours," she said.
The center originally served older adults, but now serves people 18 and older with all sorts of activities including van trips and travel, wellness groups, health screenings, meals, exercising and fitness, speakers and cooking classes.
"The Spectrum Generations Muskie Center has grown tremendously," she said. "The image that people have of our center is changing. Now, younger adults are coming to us. People are taking charge of their aging. They want to be healthy, active, involved in the community."
The city applied for a $350,000 Community Development Block Grant for the renovations on behalf the Muskie Center. City councilors on Tuesday took the first of three needed votes to accept and appropriate the grant.
Silva and Terry Drummond, Spectrum Generations' development director, said the center matched the grant with $87,500, and a donor contributed $10,000.
The Muskie Center is an 11,860-square-foot facility originally built as an elementary school gymnasium. It was renovated for use as a multipurpose community center in 1979.
Senior Spectrum, whose name has been changed to Spectrum Generations to reflect the new image and age-range of users, occupied the building for 27 years. During that time, more than $200,000 in renovations were done to the facility, including the addition of a solarium in 2001. The city sold the building to Senior Spectrum for $1 in 2006.
The new renovation project represents the first of three construction phases planned for the center.
The second phase would involve moving the offices to the center of the building and opening up the area where offices now are located to make it a dining area, according to Silva.
The third phase would include expanding the overhead storage area (now over the offices) to the center of the building. A timetable has not been set for those phases.
The Muskie Center is one of seven centers operated by Spectrum Generations, Central Maine Agency on Aging -- and is the oldest, Silva said. Others are in Hallowell, Skowhegan, Damariscotta, Rockland, Belfast and Brunswick.
During construction at the Muskie Center, programs will be held at a location yet to be determined. The Meals on Wheels program, however, will continue from the kitchen, which will not be affected, she said. Officials are looking for an interim facility of about 3,000-square-feet in size and with the ability to have a public shower, she said.
"So far, we haven't determined a space but we're still looking and we're open to ideas people may have," she said. "It's very important to us that we not stop any services at all."
The center serves about 2,300 people a year and operates on federal and state funding, as well as with money from United Way, private donors and occasional grants. The center charges for some services.
Bunker & Savage Architects of Augusta is drawing up plans for the renovations and they will be put out to bid, Drummond said. The bids will be opened at City Hall around the first of July if all goes according to plans, he said.
The center is about $40,000 shy of the estimated cost of renovations, but officials are hoping that, with the downturn in the economy and contractors out of work, they might consider coming in at a lower price.
Drummond on Tuesday discussed the plans at a required public hearing before the City Council.
Councilor Rosemary J. Winslow, D-Ward 3, said a good team of people helped with the grant application and it is wonderful the city was able to get it.
"My compliments to all of the partners who worked on this," she said.
Amy Calder -- 861- 9247
acalder@centralmaine.com
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