Plans are moving forward for the construction of a new facility that will serve as the future home of the Foley Senior Center.
The Foley City Council voted Monday, March 23, to seek proposals for the design of a new Senior Center building, marking the next step in addressing the city’s growing demand for senior services.
David Thompson, executive director of leisure services, said the city previously considered renovating the current library building for use as a Senior Center once the new library opens in 2026. After further evaluation, officials determined that constructing a purpose-built facility would be a more practical and cost-effective solution.
“We’re looking at a brand-new building,” Thompson said. “We’re asking at this time to go out for proposals.”
Mayor Ralph Hellmich said the existing library, located next to City Hall, will instead be renovated for other municipal uses. He noted that the current Senior Center on East Rose Avenue, which has about 7,000 square feet of space, is no longer adequate to meet increasing demand.
“We’re so overloaded in our current Senior Center,” Hellmich said. “There is such a need. We thought that the library could work, but after looking at that building, we found that it would require a lot of excess money to change the use of that building. It’s by far better to do a purpose-built building where you get better value and then keep the old library for other uses.”
A potential location for the new Senior Center is near the former National Guard armory site behind City Hall. The armory is currently being renovated to house new city offices and recreation facilities, which are expected to open later this year.