On Wednesday, October 4th, City Council held a Committee of the Whole for an update from the administration on the proposed Senior Center. Committee meetings are not recorded and the VRS team attended in person to learn more about this topic.

Financials

• It is estimated that a new Senior Center will cost $21.5M. Currently the City has $11.5M ($4M ARPA funds, $3 federal funds and $4.5M state funds).
• Funds anticipated to reach project goals are $8M from Wayne County, $1.25M from a federal community fund resource and a requested $1.9M from a State of Michigan Community grant program.
• Part of this budget includes acquisition of 4 acres next to the Recreation Center that is currently owned by Livonia Public Schools. After conversation with LPS, it appears the City could acquire the land for $100k per acre; however, it is anticipated that the district will want to resolve the current concerns about the tax assessment fee. Learn more about that here: September 20th, 2023 – https://voterunservelivonia.com/…/september-20th-2023…/

Outreach

Livonia’s Parks and Recreation Department oversees the Senior Center and has held 3 senior focus groups and did a survey that received 550 responses (Livonia has approximately 20,000 seniors). Parks Director Ted Davis also hosts monthly ‘Ted’ Talks and will be offering seniors another interactive opportunity to share feedback in the next month or so. Priorities voiced by seniors that have been incorporated in design objectives are the following:

• Separate space from Recreation Center with direct, independent parking lot
• Large multi-purpose space
• Accessible restrooms
• Larger kitchen/dining area
• Cafe and lounge space

Engineering

A RFQ is being put together for a construction manager to guide this project. It’s expected that this person could be selected by January/February. The new 30,000 sq ft building is expected to take 12 months to build after it breaks ground.