At Monday’s Blue Earth City Council meeting, City Administrator Mary Kennedy presented to the council a Senior Center/Library proposal. The main reason this proposal was made was due to safety concerns with the sidewalk, leaky windows, a steep ramp to the entrance and also issues with the main entrance door. The rough estimated cost to fix all these issues would be over $50,000.
The proposal would relocate the Senior Center to St. Luke’s in the former Adult Daycare/Little Luke’s Daycare space. The cost to the city would be $500 a month for rent and $500 for utilities for the first year. Some of the benefits of the move would be that the space is ADA accessible, there’s adequate parking, there are Seniors already living on campus and access to meals that St. Luke’s already provides to the senior center.
Under the proposal, if the Senior Center were to move, the library would possibly take over the current Senior Center for additional space that would provide additional parking for the library, classroom space and space for programs by adding square footage. The entrance door no longer becomes an immediate concern as it would not be a main source of entry. There would eventually be some remodeling necessary, but grant funding would likely be available to help cover that unknown cost.
The council agreed to move forward with this proposal and will look at possibly adding it to the 2024 budget.