SPRINGDALE — The city’s new Senior Center has moved, and construction hasn’t even started.
Voters in May approved a $360 million bond issue that will bring the city as much as $16.25 million for construction and furnishing the 40,000-square-foot building.
The Senior Center will sit at 819 E. Emma Ave. on 2 acres the city bought for $304,000 in 2018.
Mayor Doug Sprouse promoted the bond project with the center sitting directly north across the street from its now-planned location. The Senior Center would have been built on The Jones Center campus. His thought at the time was the Senior Center and Jones Center would share some amenities.
The Jones Center is going through its own rejuvenation. Officials on Tuesday shared with the City Council plans to create a welcoming, parklike space throughout its 54-acre campus. The JTL Green is a proposed name for the space.
Sprouse said a number of decisions led to the relocation including drainage, parking and fees. He said he talked to council members individually and got their approval to move the center.
Both Sprouse and Terri Trotter, president and chief executive officer of The Jones Center, say the relationship remains amicable between the city and Jones Center officials.
The Jones Center in May prepared, at the city’s request, a draft of a usage agreement. Sprouse responded in June with a letter that listed his concerns.
Trotter said the draft was more of a list of aspects leaders of the two centers would consider going forward.
‘The perfect site’
The two entities never discussed the draft because the city found another location for the Senior Center, Trotter said.
“We realized we’ve always had the perfect site for the Senior Center — just across the street,” Sprouse said. “All agreed the new location was better overall.”
The seniors are happy.
“They’re just glad to have a new center,” said Lori Proud, director of the center.
The current 20,000-square-foot center is too small to serve the growing population. The center sees about 150 seniors a day for lunch and activities and serves about 300 through Meals on Wheels, Proud said.
The center’s current building on Park Street first served as the city’s recreation center. The John Powell Senior Center sat behind it. The buildings have been joined.
The seniors also wanted to be a part of all that is happening on Emma, Proud said. Emma sits at the center of efforts to revitalize downtown and the front door of the new center will open onto Emma.
The Downtown Springdale Alliance has planned many events to bring people downtown to shop and eat, with the mission to revitalize the downtown district. The city has added infrastructure to improve the look of the street.
The new location also will put the seniors next door to the Market Center of the Ozarks. The Walton Family Foundation has established the market to connect local growers with larger market opportunities such as restaurants and local stores. The market currently is under construction in downtown Springdale.
“We’re thrilled they’re going to be right there,” Trotter said of the Senior Center’s new location.
Issues
Sprouse noted several issues with the formerly proposed property on the north side of Emma.
Construction — especially drainage — on the north side of Emma would be complicated with both the Senior Center and the Jones Center improvements happening at the same time, he said.
Mike Gilbert of Buffalo Builders found the site had several drainage issues that would add cost to the construction, Sprouse said. The city in September 2022 hired Buffalo as the construction manager for $32,000. The City Council also hired Core Architects to design the center for 6% of the total cost of construction.
The City Council on TuesdayOct 24 approved a contract with Earthplan Design Alternatives to develop the large-scale design for the Senior Center on the south side of Emma. The city will pay $39,350 for the work.
Sprouse also saw a parking issue if the Senior Center were on the north side of Emma. He didn’t think the Senior Center would have enough parking if the lot were shared with The Jones Center.
“Parking is a major complaint of the seniors who use the center,” Sprouse said. “The parking is a necessary feature of the new Senior Center.”
The lot at the current Senior Center on Park Street always is full, he said.
Trotter agreed parking was an issue. The new development plan for The Jones Center has 10 fewer parking spaces than The Jones Center has now, she said.
A proposed development agreement in May from The Jones Center had the city building and maintaining the parking lot under a land-use agreement.
But under the bond rules, the city would have to own the property to build and maintain the parking lot and access road. The Jones Trust would have to transfer the property to the city.
Negotiations
The Jones Center on May 4 sent a proposed development agreement to the city, outlining each entity’s role in sharing the space.
A June 2 letter from Sprouse said he was concerned about proposed shared use agreements for the parking lot and paying The Jones Center for use and parking by the seniors.
Trotter said The Jones Center might ask the Senior Center for funding for programming for the seniors. She noted the city might want to share costs for some events like bringing speakers in or paying for supplies for art projects.
Trotter said seniors who want to use The Jones Center’s weight room or pool might have to pay a membership fee. The Jones Center currently has three packages for membership and might create a new package for seniors, she said.
Sprouse noted the agreement was just a starting place for the project. He said the city asked The Jones Center to create it. But he said he does not remember the letter.
The draft agreement was presented to the city this summer about the same time as the new location for the Senior Center was proposed.
The decision to move the Senior Center site was really a lot simpler than it sounds, Sprouse said.
“Once we found out the property across the street would work, it made just more sense to build it there,” he said.
“But these are certainly ideas that we could go back over as we continue to move forward,” Trotter said.
The Jones Center and the city worked together to buy about five old homes along Willella Place, which were surrounded by The Jones Center’s acreage.
The city in May 2022 bought two for $500,000 to make way for the Senior Center.
The city has no current plans for the land on Willella, Sprouse said
The city also owns 905 E. Huntsville Ave. It might sell to The Jones Center to give The Jones Center access to Huntsville Avenue, Sprouse said. It’s a remnant of the city’s easements for the widening of the road, he said.
Laurinda Joenks can be reached by email at [email protected] or on Twitter @NWALaurinda.