Senior Center Project Unveiled to Packed Chambers

Editor's Note: The Eckersley Hall Building Committee will bring a referendum before the Council at its August regular meeting.

Update: 8:30 p.m.

The Council Chambers was packed Tuesday night with seniors, council members, community members and those on the Eckersley Hall Building Committee as Silver/Petricelli + Associates presented its architectural renderings of the new senior center.

Earlier version:

Mayor Dan Drew has backed away from a proposal to after the senior center building committee nixed an architect’s preliminary concept.

“I brought it to the [Eckersley Hall] Building Committee and they weren’t interested,” Drew said.

“I have never been a proponent of an alternate plan,” he said. “I was seeking an alternative to see if it was feasible to bring an option forward to see if for the same amount of money we could get more bang for our buck. It was never my intention to force another option upon them.”

Chair of the building committee Ron Klattenberg said he was pleased at the news. “This prevents confusion and allows the community to focus on one plan. Now, the Eckersley Hall Senior / Community Center project can be judged solely on the basis of its merits and its ability to serve the needs of the senior population.”

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Last month, Drew hired Wojas Architectural of Middlefield to design plans for incorporating the senior center into the space now occupied by council chambers after he said costs had ballooned out of control.

“We have to come up with some explanation why we promised $1.6 million and it’s now a $4 million project. And that’s on top of the cost of the [Eckersley Hall] building, which was nearly $1 million,” Drew said at the time.

The city purchased the former on Durant Terrace, known as Eckersley Hall, for $800,000, with the intention of renovating it for a new senior-community center.

Though abandoned, Drew said, the architect’s findings were interesting.

“We found we could build an additional 20 percent for cheaper on a square-foot basis,” he said, which means “20 percent more space for around the same cost, extra storage and office space and a third floor.”

That plan would have significantly reduced costs by combining the senior center and town hall in one location.

“You’d have only one building to maintain and you wouldn’t need additional staff,” Drew said. “Operational costs would include grounds upkeep, plowing, a full-time custodian to take care of the building with health insurance and benefits, and utilities. We’re talking economy of scale and cost savings.”

As far as the high cost of the project, Drew said, “this is a question that will have to go to referendum. It’s up to the city of Middletown to decide.” If approved, the funds would be bonded and paid back by the city in a 10-year time period, much like high school.

“I encourage the public to offer opinions no matter how they feel about the issue,” Drew said by speaking at tonight’s public session, talking to him or writing letters.

Tonight at 6:30 p.m. in Council Chambers, the Eckersley Hall Building Committee will present a workshop on the new senior-community center concept.

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