Prineville gets $962K grant to repair Senior Center
The city of Prineville was notified this week of the award of a $962,271 Community Development Block Grant from Business Oregon to repair and rehabilitate the Prineville Senior Center building.
“This is wonderful news for our community,” said Prineville Mayor Betty Roppe. “The Prineville Senior Center has a long history of providing important services to our community. It is critical that the Senior Center facility is up to date, safe and welcoming to those who access services. I am happy that the City has been able to support the Senior Center in acquiring this grant to preserve their building.”
The Community Development Block Grant program provides grant funds to cities and counties to upgrade public infrastructure, develop community facilities and provide essential services to its citizens and workforce. Business Oregon, the state of Oregon’s economic development agency, administers the CDBG program.
In order to help secure the funding, both the City of Prineville and Crook County pledged to match a portion of the funds provided by the grant, along with Soroptimists Charitable Trust, Perrin Foundation Grant and TransCanada Corp.
The grant application was coordinated and prepared by NeighborImpact, a 21 Cares for Kids partner. NeighborImpact is a nonprofit organization serving Crook, Deschutes and Jefferson counties and the Confederated Tribes of Warm Springs. The agency operates major programs, including food, energy assistance, housing assistance, Head Start, weatherization services, Home Ownership and Financial Education, child care resources and lending.
Recently, the organization has begun to offer services in consulting, writing and administering Community Development Block Grants to cities and counties in Central Oregon.
“NeighborImpact could not be more excited by this grant,” said Scott Cooper, NeighborImpact Executive Director. “The Soroptimists provide vital services to Crook County, including the delivery of meals to home-bound seniors. This grant will ensure that the Senior Center continues to serve our community for many years.”
The grant will pay for a wide range of repairs and upgrades to the senior center building, which was constructed in 1964 as a bowling alley and converted to a senior center in 1979. The project scope will include constructing a new roof, replacing the HVAC system, replacing leaking windows, constructing ADA compliant safe covered entries, replacing interior flooring, installation of new kitchen appliances and reconstruction of the parking lot.
The Senior Center is owned and operated by the Soroptimist International of Prineville Charitable Trust. Soroptimist President Dorless Reid noted that the grant is particularly important after the challenges resulting from the winter of 2017.
“We had many difficulties with ice dams and leaking, as well as unsafe conditions for seniors getting from the parking lot to the building,” said Reid. “This grant will allow us to fix these problems, and make sure that the Senior Center is safe, now and into the future.”
Work on the project is anticipated to begin in 2019.
