Photo Credit: Eileen A. Hotho and Paul Wicka
Battling the hazards of slippery ice and snow, town of Hamburg, N.Y., workers last February unpacked moving trucks filled with desks, office supplies, and furniture. These items had been loaded onto the trucks across town at separate locations for Senior Services and its Adult Day Service, completing a journey that began nearly 2 years before. The two offices are part of the Department of Youth, Recreation and Senior Services, and this move was the final leg of a strategic consolidation of the huge department under one roof, although the town had combined the three entities administratively in 2010.
The relocation of four separate offices to the newly christened Senior Community Center began in December 2013 with the transfer of the Recreation Office and Youth Bureau staff to the former Frontier Community Learning Center. The move was possible for the first arrivals at that time because they were able to utilize the former school administrative office space, which required little more than fresh paint and new carpet.
The $2.3-million renovation project was spurred by the town’s search for larger facilities for Senior Services, primarily for its adult day-care center, which had outgrown its building—a former train station. The town took over the 40,600-square-foot facility on July 1, 2013, and began the transformation from school building to a combination community and senior center with recreation and activities for all ages. The extensive improvements were initially projected to take about 6 months to complete.