Nevada County Picayune and Gurdon Times Newspaper Archive

$500,000 Needed For Center

While a grant for $325,000 has been procured to help build a new senior adult center in Prescott, more money is needed.

According to Irma Sue Purtle, center director, the proposed new center will cost about $500,000 to build, and it is up to the center to come up with the remaining funds.

The current facility is 6,980 square feet in a two-story structure. However, Purtle said, the center was built as an old WPA project originally back in the 1930s and is falling apart.

This is literally true as the foundation in areas has cracks two and three inches wide. The foundation has shifted and caused the bathroom facilities become unmoored from their seatings.

The roof has been redone three times, but still leaks. The leaks are so bad water runs down walls and pools in the floor.

In addition, the kitchen, where meals for senior citizens are prepared, is 11-feet by 13-feet with no storage space, and there is little parking for visitors to the center. The lack of adequate parking creates a danger, she said, for the senior citizens crossing streets.

Purtle said plans a new center would be 6,000 square feet on one floor.

Land for a new center has been acquired at Main and Walnut streets, with the property being donated by a local philanthropist.

An architect, Purtle said, will design the new building so as to make the most use of the land and give as much parking as possible.

The parking will mostly be off-street so the senior citizens don't have to deal with traffic while on foot.

It will also have a larger kitchen and storage center and be designed so deliveries can be made directly to the kitchen area without having to go through the main part of the center.

Purtle hopes to include an exercise room for the seniors who visit the center so they can stay in shape while chatting with one another.

Offices for the staff will also be included in the plans.

The center offers many services to its clients. These include hot lunches on a daily basis, a home bound meal program, a home health program, commodities being issued when available, energy assistance, medical transportation for non-emergency cases, and transportation to and from other areas in the city and county. The county's literacy program is also operated through the center.

This, Purtle said, is done to help the seniors stay independent and out of nursing homes.

When seniors stay home, she added, they tend to get depressed or sick. But with the center, they have somewhere to go and be with others.

Programs are held during different times of the year in celebration of various holidays. Special activities are scheduled to keep the seniors busy, while games are available for those so inclined.

"We try to give them a reason to keep going and not stay home," Purtle said.

However, the center must still come up with $175,000 to fill out the needed half-million dollars it will take to build a new one.

To help out, several fund raising events have been held. A luncheon to help raise money cleared more than $3,000, while a garage sale brought in $1,600 more.

Donations were taken on a huge teddy bear and raised $419. Donations are now being taken on a homemade quilt.

Others in the community have pitched in financially, with one cash donation being made in the amount of $10,000. The seniors who use the center have done what they can by donating $1,230.

Those making donations to help build a new senior citizens center will be remembers on a gem plaque. The donor can have their name or the name of a loved one engraved on this plaque as a memorial for the effort.

Donations to the gem plaque are tax deductible, with the type of gems being based on the amount donated.

Those making contributions of less than $100 will be remembered on the topaz portion, while those of $100 will be sapphires.

For donations of $250 the stone will be amethyst, with emerald being the gem of choice for donors of $500.

For those who can donate $1,000 the stone will be a ruby, while pearls will be used for donors of $5,000. Contributions above this amount will be remembered by diamonds.

Anyone wanting to contribute to the gem plaque can do so by making a check payable to the Nevada County Senior Citizens Center, attn. Irma Sue Purtle, P.O. Box 538, Prescott, AR 71857-0538.

For more information, call the center at 887-5171.