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The utility room of the old Army Reserve building. (By Joe Crocetta/Staff Photographer / December 15, 2012) |
Preliminary estimates for the cost of renovating the former U.S. Army Reserve property in Hagerstown for use as a senior citizens center could cost about half as much as the county’s previous proposal to build a new facility at Hagerstown Community College.
County Administrator Gregory B. Murray guessed that the main 19,000-square-foot building on the 4.6-acre property at 21 Willard St. could be rehabilitated at a cost of about $3 million to $3.5 million, although that could change after an official inspection by architects.
If that figure holds true, it would be significantly lower than the $7.5 million projected final cost of a senior center the county had planned to build at HCC. Murray said initial plans for the HCC proposal called for a building with about 18,000 square feet.
The Washington County Board of Commissioners voted 4-1 in late November to purchase the property — formerly leased to the Army — from the city of Hagerstown, which agreed on a 3-2 vote to authorize the city to enter into a sale agreement for $625,000.
The county intends to use federal Community Development Block Grant money that will expire Dec. 31 to buy the property, but the city’s Board of Zoning Appeals still must approve a special exception to allow a senior center to operate on the premises.
That meeting will take place Wednesday.
Plans for center
Murray said Wednesday that the county has no specific plans for what services and facilities might be included in the main building once it’s renovated, but the options are pretty much endless.
Accompanied by Murray, The Herald-Mail last week toured the property, which has three buildings built by the U.S. Army for use as a Reserve center in the late 1950s, lots of parking and green space. It is in a residential neighborhood, adjacent to the city’s Hagerstown Greens at Hamilton Run golf course.
The main building is in great shape, Murray said, with basic brick and block construction that has “weathered time very well” and provides a workable skeleton for whatever the county wants to build.
“When you’re in the interior of the building, you can see that the walls are solid,” he said. “The condition of the building lends itself to rehabilitation quite well.”
The main building currently contains a gymnasium with an adjoining kitchen, two spacious rooms that Murray said easily could be turned into a cafeteria area, office space, a shooting range and other storage areas.
Two other buildings with tall garage bay doors not connected to the main building also currently stand on the property, used previously by the Reserve unit for vehicle and maintenance facilities.
“Of course, all the major HVAC systems would have to come out and be replaced with new, more green current type of high-efficiency systems,” Murray said. “So the structure itself, the complex, the amount of property here, the parking all lends itself well to rehabilitation for a repurposing of something like a senior center.”
Murray said the county might examine the idea of installing solar energy panels on the roof of the building, which is relatively flat, as a way to provide a greener source of power for the center. Public transportation also easily could be made available at the site with several entrances accessible for buses and vans and adequate parking areas.
Bill Beard, chairman of the Washington County Commission on Aging’s property committee, said the commission has been working closely with county officials since the idea of the senior center at the property came up. He said members of the committee have toured the property twice.
Beard said the property committee submitted a letter to the county commissioners Friday that included a list of desired facilities that they would like to see incorporated into a renovated center.
“We like the location, No. 1,” he said. “We think the building can be adapted to be a senior center quite easily. And that’s why we have prepared the suggested guidelines for doing that.”
“We think the space ... is perfectly adequate for a 21st-century senior center, and we’re very optimistic,” he said.
County Administrator Gregory B. Murray guessed that the main 19,000-square-foot building on the 4.6-acre property at 21 Willard St. could be rehabilitated at a cost of about $3 million to $3.5 million, although that could change after an official inspection by architects.
If that figure holds true, it would be significantly lower than the $7.5 million projected final cost of a senior center the county had planned to build at HCC. Murray said initial plans for the HCC proposal called for a building with about 18,000 square feet.
The Washington County Board of Commissioners voted 4-1 in late November to purchase the property — formerly leased to the Army — from the city of Hagerstown, which agreed on a 3-2 vote to authorize the city to enter into a sale agreement for $625,000.
The county intends to use federal Community Development Block Grant money that will expire Dec. 31 to buy the property, but the city’s Board of Zoning Appeals still must approve a special exception to allow a senior center to operate on the premises.
That meeting will take place Wednesday.
Plans for center
Murray said Wednesday that the county has no specific plans for what services and facilities might be included in the main building once it’s renovated, but the options are pretty much endless.
Accompanied by Murray, The Herald-Mail last week toured the property, which has three buildings built by the U.S. Army for use as a Reserve center in the late 1950s, lots of parking and green space. It is in a residential neighborhood, adjacent to the city’s Hagerstown Greens at Hamilton Run golf course.
The main building is in great shape, Murray said, with basic brick and block construction that has “weathered time very well” and provides a workable skeleton for whatever the county wants to build.
“When you’re in the interior of the building, you can see that the walls are solid,” he said. “The condition of the building lends itself to rehabilitation quite well.”
The main building currently contains a gymnasium with an adjoining kitchen, two spacious rooms that Murray said easily could be turned into a cafeteria area, office space, a shooting range and other storage areas.
Two other buildings with tall garage bay doors not connected to the main building also currently stand on the property, used previously by the Reserve unit for vehicle and maintenance facilities.
“Of course, all the major HVAC systems would have to come out and be replaced with new, more green current type of high-efficiency systems,” Murray said. “So the structure itself, the complex, the amount of property here, the parking all lends itself well to rehabilitation for a repurposing of something like a senior center.”
Murray said the county might examine the idea of installing solar energy panels on the roof of the building, which is relatively flat, as a way to provide a greener source of power for the center. Public transportation also easily could be made available at the site with several entrances accessible for buses and vans and adequate parking areas.
Bill Beard, chairman of the Washington County Commission on Aging’s property committee, said the commission has been working closely with county officials since the idea of the senior center at the property came up. He said members of the committee have toured the property twice.
Beard said the property committee submitted a letter to the county commissioners Friday that included a list of desired facilities that they would like to see incorporated into a renovated center.
“We like the location, No. 1,” he said. “We think the building can be adapted to be a senior center quite easily. And that’s why we have prepared the suggested guidelines for doing that.”
“We think the space ... is perfectly adequate for a 21st-century senior center, and we’re very optimistic,” he said.
