The 75-year-old community space for Nelson’s seniors has reopened after completing a number of major upgrades.
The city-owned building at 717 Vernon St. has been the home of the Nelson Senior Citizens Association, Branch 51, since 1968. It’s a busy place — there is at least one scheduled event seven days per week — but was previously suffering from a long list of needed upgrades.
Association president Carol Howard said she first approached the City of Nelson about the building in 2019. Repairs had previously been done on the space, she said, but only piecemeal.
“It’s always been putting out fires. They needed one thing done, and they would do a little renovation. Everything was small.”
Since then, the building has received $140,000 worth of repairs paid for by grants from Columbia Basin Trust and the federal government, as well as the funds from the city and several local donations.
The changes are extensive: lead paint, asbestos and fluorescent lighting with polychlorinated biphenyls — which in Canada are considered toxic — were removed, as was black mould after the kitchen was gutted.
The additions include new flooring and lights, a renovated kitchen, a wheelchair-accessible bathroom, a heat recovery ventilation system, a refurbished pool table and insulation along a back wall that previously allowed cold air to seep into the space.
The association’s approximately 130 members first returned to the building in September 2021, but had to leave in December following COVID-19 public health orders on gatherings. They returned in February, and have praised the changes.
“Everybody who has known the place before and after, they’re just agog,” said Howard.
Howard said the building has taken on a new importance during the pandemic. Many members, she says, are single and have been isolating in small living spaces. Some had previously told her they were suffering from depression.
“My perception of this place is that it’s an extension of people’s living rooms,” she said.
“Most of the people who are here are members. We know they’re double, triple vaccinated. They do the same activities with the same people. So it’s probably one of the safest places to hang out for seniors.”
READ MORE:
• 8 things you (probably) didn’t know about the Nelson seniors centre
• Advocates say lengthy COVID isolation for seniors in care may do more harm than good
• Volunteers who supported seniors a lasting legacy of pandemic: B.C. seniors advocate
@tyler_harper | tyler.harper@nelsonstar.com
Like us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter.