Construction to begin soon on Jefferson County Leisure Center
The Jefferson County Leisure Center moved operations and services for its clients to the old National Guard Armory west of Louisville this week in preparation for renovations to begin on center’s primary facilities.
The county is using a $750,000 Community Development Block Grant, which required $220,000 in matching funds to expand and update the 209 E Seventh Street facility.
County Administrator Jerry Coalson said that the county will also be spending another $168,000 to complete the project which was delayed during the design phase.
“Some counties have a nutrition program to feed elderly folks, but here in Jefferson County we’ve had a thriving program that is more like a recreation facility for our senior citizens,” Coalson said.
The building will be expanded, and a portico added along the side so that the county transit van can pull under it and allow clients to be dropped off safely even in rain or inclement weather.
The larger day room where most of the activities occur will be expanded, another large activity room added as well as a lobby area with a front desk in front of the director’s office. The layout of the rooms will also be rearranged to better accommodate the center activities, Coalson said.
Center Director Tammie Bennett Lewis, who has been serving senior citizens at the center for nearly 10 years, said that her clients are excited about the enlarged restrooms, which previously only had two stalls apiece.
“They are excited about the whole renovation itself,” she said. “We will have an arts and crafts room, a sewing room, a game room and a computer room. There will still be space for aerobics and exercise, for those who want to gather socially, and we will be adding more things that appeal to our seniors.”
All of the existing facilities will get new flooring, new paint, and all the HVAC, plumbing and countertops will be replaced, Coalson said.
Coalson said that the contractor’s bids for expanding the parking lot came in higher than the cost for which the county could do it themselves.
“We have the ability to grade and tamp the lot and then we can just have someone come in and pave it. So we will come back and do that ourselves,” Coalson said.
Lewis said that COVID took a toll on her clients and that enrollment is down a bit from what it was before the pandemic. There are still between 65 and 70 individuals enrolled in its programming and Lewis said that typically around 40 members a day attend the center. Coalson said that once the construction is complete, the county plans to hold a membership and recruitment drive for the center which is open Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m.
“We offer free transportation to the center and have nutritional hot lunches available all five days,” Lewis said. “We offer daily exercise and run a Silver Sneaker program in conjunction with Old Captial Gym. We are helping them stay as healthy as possible.”
The Area Center on Aging through the Regional Commission in Augusta provides services and oversees the nutrition program at the center, Coalson said. Through their program qualifying seniors who are homebound or cannot attend the center can have meals delivered to their homes.
Once completed, clients can be issued cards that they can scan in the lobby as they come and go which will help the county to track how the facility is being utilized.
This article originally appeared on Augusta Chronicle: Construction to begin soon on Jefferson County Leisure Center
