Senior Middle lease prolonged as look for for lasting household proceeds in South Deerfield

SOUTH DEERFIELD — With a lease extension by means of December, the South County Senior Middle will shell out at minimum the rest of the 12 months at the Holy Loved ones Roman Catholic Church.

The lease extension will be in result whilst Deerfield prepares to undertake renovations on the South Deerfield Congregational Church, which will be utilized for a extended-term, short-term area for the Senior Center whilst a everlasting setting up is explored.

The Senior Center located a temporary winter house in the Holy Family members Roman Catholic Church’s Pope St. John Paul II Middle in November as the cities of Deerfield, Sunderland and Whately sought to transfer the seniors inside of, from their earlier out of doors tent, through the cold-weather months. The lease, by which the Senior Centre pays $1,000 for each thirty day period, was set to expire on June 30, but was prolonged by Dec. 31, according to Deerfield City Administrator Kayce Warren.

The prepare, in accordance to Senior Center Board of Oversight member and Deerfield Selectboard Chair Trevor McDaniel, is to property the seniors in the Holy Household Roman Catholic Church by means of the close of the lease, though starting inside renovations on the South Deerfield Congregational Church in the tumble. Deerfield people appropriated $150,000 for church renovations at October’s Specific City Meeting.

“It’s not a ton of function, but it’s just ample to have a space,” he said, “while we figure out what we can construct.”

The renovations include things like generating obtainable bathrooms, small modifications to the kitchen, developing an place of work for Senior Center team and the general public well being nurse, as nicely as mini splits for heating and cooling the developing. McDaniel believed the renovations could be concluded by the time the lease ends in December.

The town is also functioning on feasibility research and architectural strategies for the Senior Centre developing up coming to the congregational church. If the town can discover a economically viable way, it would renovate the building into a multi-use City Hall with the Senior Heart as an addition. The Senior Middle making on North Major Street shut to the public thanks to the pandemic in 2020 and hardly ever reopened as an environmental assessment previous year uncovered the presence of asbestos, mildew and lead paint. Senior Center staff users nonetheless use the offices on the initial floor and a COVID-19 tests web page began running there in March.

“We’re seeking for all of these strategies and spots exactly where we can do anything and locate funding,” McDaniel mentioned. “I consider the approach is moving together, it’s just sluggish.”

In the meantime, South County Senior Heart Director Jennifer Remillard explained a tent will be assembled on the Senior Center’s lawn by the end of Could to present further outdoor programming. The tent will be utilised on Tuesdays and Thursdays, though the Holy Household Roman Catholic Church room will continue on to be made use of on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays.

The Senior Middle has extra birding things to do and added training packages, and has scheduled the yearly picnic for June 15, which will be held beneath the tent from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. with the theme of “garden party.”

For updates on South County Senior Middle programming, take a look at the center’s Facebook page, sign up for the every month newsletter by emailing [email protected], or pay a visit to the Holy Family members Roman Catholic Church, at 29 Sugarloaf St., on Monday, Wednesday or Friday in between 9 a.m. and 12:30 p.m.

Chris Larabee can be reached at [email protected] or 413-930-4081.