If you compare architectural renderings for an expanded senior center at its existing site, with recently developed renderings for an expanded senior center on the ground floor of the Riverview Apartments, the first thing you may notice is that they’re quite a bit alike.
“Basically, it’s the ingredients from the expanded library senior center made to fit [the Riverview Apartments] building,” commented Riverview Apartment board member Jerry Ostensoe. “There is the same amount of space, and it’s very similar to what they proposed for the bonding bill.”
Efforts to provide a larger senior center for area elders have been underway for years, but initiatives have consistently been hampered by a lack of funding.
This past year, the library and senior center developed a $2.6 million joint expansion proposal that was presented to legislators in hopes of being included in the 2010 bonding bill.
The project did not even make it past legislative committees however, as the type of need was dubbed ubiquitous across the state. The problem, said Capital Investment Chairman, Keith Langseth, DFL - Glyndon, is that just about every town has a library and most have a senior center.
Down but not out, senior center proponents have kept on the lookout for possible funding sources and were recently presented with a very intriguing scenario tied to the Riverview Apartments, which is also in need of funding sources.
That proposal involves locating the senior center into the Riverview Apartments complex so that two things happen. One, area elders get a new senior center and, two, the apartment complex gains an asset thats value can be used to help the complex obtain financing for needed renovations.
Like the library/senior initiative, the idea entails a joint proposal, but because the project is unique, it is believed that it would have a better chance of being funded by the legislature.
Committee seeks support from public
A committee made up of representatives from the senior advocacy board, the Riverview Apartments, EDA and the city council have begun meeting to explore the option, which was brought to their attention by Dean Doyscher, President of Security Management & Realty (SMR) of Mankato.
Doyscher and SMR have a long history managing congregate living sites as well as working alongside the legislature, but will not go forward funding initiatives unless the community has made clear a desire to pursue the proposed outcome.
Speaking on behalf of the ad hoc senior center/ Riverview Apartments committee, Ostensoe and EDA chairman Tonie Peterson said that delegation is going to be seeking input from seniors in the coming months and that they are excited by the idea of community involvement directing the course of what may be the most viable possibility for a senior center.
“It’s one of the prettiest locations in town,” Ostensoe stated while noting the proximity of the Riverview Apartments to the falls. “Wouldn’t it be wonderful to be sitting there watching the river going by having coffee, playing cards or eating lunch? The location is great.”
Granite Falls, Minn. —
