Bend Parks and Rec reworks Senior Center plans
What do you do when the low bid on a $500,000 project comes in at $1 million? That’s the question facing the Bend Parks and Rec Board as it reworks plans to upgrade the Bend Senior Center.
The master plan for renovation of the center on Reed Market Road will add 40,000 square feet to the busy facility.
“To expand and improve the senior center, we’ve recognized there’s definitely a need, a growing demographic and an aging center that’s not currently fulfilling all the present needs,” Daniel Fishkin, chair of the park board, said Tuesday evening.
The board has approved a scaled-down first phase, renovating the current layout.
“Essentially re-purposing some of the rooms and moving some stuff around so they’re in better more appropriate spaces for the activities that we’re currently doing there,” said Matt Mercer, the senior center’s master planner.
Phase 1 is projected to cost around $100,000, but the board says because of the planning they’re doing now, it won’t stress your wallet.
“Frankly it’s a matter of saving the money so that we don’t have to go out and ask tax payers for additional money,” Fishkin said.
Mercer expects smaller incremental improvements down the road like a pool, multipurpose activity court and a track, among other things.
“Currently, what facilities we offer and the Juniper Swim Center and the senior center are not going to be adequate to meet the demands of that population, in terms of numbers, nor the lifestyle and activities that we’re finding that older adults want to pursue,” Mercer said.
The renovation will require patience before completion.
“We definitely agree that there’s a need and a desire to do it right,” Mercer said. “We want to do it once, we want to do it right, and we want to do it in the most cost-efficient way. So we appreciate the patience and the understanding.”
As of now, there’s no timetable to when the renovations will begin, but the project is part of the park district’s five-year capital improvement plan. Learn more about the senior center renovation plans at this page on the park district’s Website.
