Senior center gears up for remodel, drive-through meals

An approximately $1.4 million remodel of the Carson City Senior Center will create temporary inconvenience when construction begins Feb. 21, but seniors will have a thoroughly upgraded bathroom and dining room to look forward to this summer.

“It’s an inconvenience as the project is going. We’re really looking forward to the finished project,” Courtney Warner, executive director of the senior center, said Monday.

Warner said the project is not a mere update, but a major remodel.

“We’re trying to build a space designed with purpose rather than put together,” she said. “We’re really excited to give this gift back to our seniors.”

The remodel entails the west-wing bathrooms, the dining hall and kitchen. Warner said the kitchen is the least exciting — a new floor — but the dining room and bathrooms will be reconfigured to better serve the community.

While the kitchen remodel came from city capital improvement funds, the dining room and bathrooms received a sizable share of American Rescue Plan Act funding, Warner said. The cost of the dining room project is slightly less than $720,000 but is being covered by ARPA funds administered by the Nevada Aging and Disability Services Division.

“Funding is always so tight,” she said.

That investment will make the west-wing bathrooms more “senior-friendly” by getting rid of cumbersome doors, rerouting plumbing and making fixtures automated. The remodel will improve access for those using wheelchairs and walkers, Warner said.

The dining room will likewise get an overhaul.

“This is an opportunity for us to create a welcoming space for seniors, a refreshed look and a choice menu,” Warner said.

The dining room remodel will include a build-your-own salad bar — not a self-serve bar — where seniors can choose toppings. There will be a self-serve beverage area, though volunteers will still be assisting seniors with drinks when necessary. Warner said a much larger service window will allow greater variety in the center’s menu and will accommodate different dietary needs.

“Basically, we’re knocking out a wall and doubling it (the service window) in size,” she said.

Some inconvenience will be possible as construction continues throughout spring. Warner is hopeful the entire project will be completed by the end of June.

In the meantime, the center will remain open. The west entrance will be closed, but the public will be able to access the east entrance. While the dining room will be closed, lunch will continue to be served 11 a.m. to noon Monday through Friday via a drive-through. The drive-through will be set up in the main (west) parking lot.

“Most of our folks are used to it because the indoors closed for COVID, and we did the drive-through,” Warner said.

Meals from the drive-through will be packaged to go, and limited seating will be set up in the eastern wing. Activities will be moved to the eastern wing during construction as well. Meals on Wheels operations will not change.

Warner said the senior center averages 2,500 to 3,000 meals a month.

“We don’t have a cap. We will keep serving to noon,” she said.

For information, visit www.carsoncityseniorcenter.org or call 775-883-0703.