DEERFIELD — The Finance Committee is recommending a feasibility study be conducted to explore the South County Senior Center’s potential move to a three-floor office building in Sunderland last occupied by All States Materials Group.
According to Selectboard Chair Trevor McDaniel, the South County Senior Center’s three member towns of Deerfield, Sunderland and Whately will fund the feasibility study. He added that Deerfield has not yet finalized plans for its portion, but may dedicate $10,000 from the remaining $34,000 that’s in the town’s Feasibility Account. Deerfield residents approved funding for the account a few years ago.
The nearly 11,000-square-foot building at 112 Amherst Road in Sunderland is the latest of several options being considered for the South County Senior Center. Its consulting firm, edmStudio, finished feasibility studies focused on constructing a new building on the parcel where Deerfield Town Hall currently stands at 8 Conway St. or building an addition onto the Whately Town Offices at 4 Sandy Lane. Each of those concepts were around 15,000 square feet, but the price tags were quite steep, as the Deerfield project came in at $16.9 million and the Whately one was estimated to be $15.5 million.
Due to these high price tags and the Sunderland building becoming available, the Finance Committee and Selectboard recommended amending the feasibility study to include an evaluation of the 112 Amherst Road property.
The Senior Center currently rents an approximately 1,800-square-foot building at 22 Amherst Road in Sunderland, but has outgrown the space as membership has surged in the last five years, bringing a need for larger programs.
During a joint meeting last week, McDaniel told the Finance Committee that the 112 Amherst Road property “fills all the needs” of the South County Senior Center. He expects the lower level would serve as a commercial kitchen space, the first floor would include offices and breakrooms, and the top floor would contain more offices, plus a large space for an exercise or gathering room.
McDaniel said the feasibility study will provide a clear picture of the changes necessary to convert the 52-year-old office building into a senior center. He anticipates “light remodeling,” including pulling up the carpets for an exercise room and ensuring the bathrooms are compliant with Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) regulations.
“It’s the best option we have seen since I’ve been on the board for a place where we can put everything under one roof,” McDaniel told the Finance Committee. “We would be able to grow into this space and use it for a long time.”
However, Finance Committee Chair Julie Chalfant expressed concerns about the Sunderland building’s small elevator and multiple floors — features she believes might raise alarm for a senior center. She raised the possibility of recommending a feasibility study evaluating Deerfield Town Hall for a renovation, due to its one-story layout.
“It’s all one floor, it has a really good entrance and exit,” Chalfant said. “It feels like it would be a good match for a senior center.”
Finance Committee member Margaret Nartowicz raised the issue of the cost of repairs to the Sunderland building.
“I agree that this building could potentially suit a senior center, but we’ve talked much longer than I’ve been on the Finance Committee about problems this building has, and it’s not just ADA,” Nartowicz said, mentioning the need to upgrade windows as an example. “Would a feasibility study actually address the required costs to upgrade these systems so that they work for however long we have a senior center?”
Chalfant said she believed insulation could solve the majority of the building’s shortcomings.
South County Senior Center Director Jennifer Ferrara said in an interview that the Sunderland office building presents a “great alternative” to an addition at the Whately Town Offices. Ferrara said she is not in support of a feasibility study of potential renovations at Deerfield Town Hall.
“In my opinion, if it’s not good enough for town hall, it’s not good enough for the senior center,” Ferrara said. “Why are you going to pour millions of dollars into a renovation into a building that could potentially be torn down?”
She added that Deerfield Town Hall also lacks a large room for multiple events to run simultaneously without the noise of one event invading the others.