It was shovels in as ground was broken next to Splashville in the Stephenville City Park for the brand new Senior Citizens Center to serve senior citizens throughout the county.
The city of Stephenville hosted a groundbreaking ceremony Monday, July 8 on the new 700,000 square foot building being constructed by Bosque Construction with Colby Pack.
With the $1.7 million price tag, the city knew they couldn’t do it alone and county commissioners unanimously agreed to contribute $500,000 from American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funds.
On Monday, city officials, county commissioners and senior citizens gathered to welcome in a new piece of Stephenville and county history.
“We’ve been anticipating this for at least three years,” Stephenville Parks and Leisure Services Director Daron Trussell said. “I was a councilmember when this project started and now I’m the Director of Parks and Leisure Services, so I’ve been on both sides of this project so I’ve seen us work a long time to get here.”
Trussell said thank you to all of the council members who throughout the years have worked to make the new center happen.
“There have been a lot of changes throughout the process ... site changes, fiscal changes, things like that,” he said. “We are extremely excited to be here today to break ground on this project.”
Stephenville Mayor Doug Svien also spoke at the groundbreaking ceremony, welcoming everyone to the special event.
“It is a good project and it’s something that the first time I dealt with city council on the senior citizens center we approved $75,000 to keep the bats out of the building and the sad thing is it didn’t work,” he said. “Obviously we needed to do something different and it’s taken us a while to get here.”
The mayor thanked Fred Parker who drew up the plans for the project and Senior Citizens Center Manager Sandy Morgan.
“I want to specifically mention one guy because this project would not be here today without [former Erath County commissioner] Joe Brown,” Svien said. “he called me one day and said, ‘Doug, I want that senior citizens building because my constituents need it. I said, ‘Well, Joe how are we going to fix that?’ He said, ‘I’ll give you half a million dollars.’” At this point, the county had unanimously agreed to donate the ARPA funds to the city.
Debbie Watson with the UpbeatCrusadersalsospoke at the groundbreaking.
“I want to express my gratitude not just to the men on this stage but to the city council, Erath County, City Manager Jason King,” she said. “Most of all I want to ask for your help. Come to the center and make this park a hub of activity.”
Former county commissioner Brown spoke at the ceremony.
“The county wanted to do something that would affect as many people as possible,” Brown said. Brown said when he toured the senior citizens center as part of Leadership Stephenville it was evident that something needed to be done.
“There are more than 6,000 senior citizens in this county,” he said. “You have to take care of the pillars in this county that have been taxes for 50 or 60 years. So here is the building for the pillars ... and over there, [pointing at the baseball fields] that’s for the progress.”
Brown said the project is the perfect thing for the county and city to work together on.
The building is anticipated to be completed by December, hopefully in time for the senior citizen Christmas party. A wide range of activities will continue at the new center including classes, yoga, book club, bingo, low impact exercises, quilting, dominoes and Mexican train, mahjong, 42 and 82, bridge and much more.
“This new center will allow for better access to our patrons, especially those that may need handicap access. The current building is outdated and needs a full gut remodel in order to serve our citizens. From a programming standpoint, we will have the ability to attract new members and add additional programs in the evenings. We hope to add watch party’s for sporting events, additional dances, and events that will utilize our outdoor patio space. We hope that having a newer more updated and attractive space will increase participation,” Trussell said.
The senior citizens center currently and in the future is open to all senior citizens of Erath County.