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Assistant Managing Editor EAST LONGMEADOW As the East Longmeadow Senior Center's Morning Glory walkers prepared for a walk last Wednesday morning, inside the Center an open house and health fair were kicking off. For publicity purposes, this day the Morning Glory Walkers broke up into small groups and walked to different parts of town, increasing their visibility. Anyone can become a member of the walking group, which meets three times a week in the morning. Walkers may choose a one mile or a three mile walk and there are also occassional business meetings. In addition to showcasing their services and programs at the open house, Senior Center Publicity Chairman Muriel Andwood told The Reminder that work will soon begin to repair and renovate the century-old building which houses the Senior Center and the Recreation Department. She explained that the work is possible because voters approved the town's Capital Planning Committee and Appropriations Committee's budgets, allowing for the first of five phases of repairs and improvements to be conducted at the Senior Center. Andwood added that the money will have to be approved as part of those budgets each year following FY07 in order to proceed with more repairs. She said the repairs should be done by 2011. East Longmeadow Facilities Manager Rich Gale explained that the first part of the project will be to repair and update the heating and air conditioning system. "The heating system is in really bad condition," Gale explained. "The piping distribution system has failed." He explained that, while the boiler is fairly new, the pipes are as old as the building. He said the FY07 budget for these repairs is about $400,000 and that will cover the heating and air conditioning, exterior doors and windows, and a few other minor remodeling projects. Gale added that the DPW and Council on Aging will work on a five year plan for the remodeling, "so we're on the same page and so we don't do the same thing twice." For example, the bathrooms will probably be moved, so it would not make sense to spend money to do extensive renovations now. He added that the DPW will perform as much of the work as possible, but will hire contractors for some of the work. By late summer, Gale said the work should begin. And Andwood said there may be minor disturbances, but that regular activities at the Center will continue. | ||||||
