Town of Washougal and the realm’s older adults are celebrating the reopening of the Washougal Group Middle after a five-month closure.
“We know the temporary closure has been challenging for many of them, as the community center is such an essential part of their daily lives,” Washougal spokesperson Michele Loftus mentioned. “We’re eager to show our appreciation for their patience.”
The downtown Washougal Group Middle, which hosts the Washougal Senior Affiliation, Meals on Wheels Folks, ReFuel Washougal and different nonprofit teams, closed in September for renovations in the course of the first part of the town’s downtown revitalization venture.
In January, metropolis leaders heard that the closure was negatively impacting native older adults.
“This has been dragging on longer than we can afford for it to. We’re being seriously impacted,” Washougal Senior Affiliation member Wayne Patterson advised the Washougal Metropolis Council at a Jan. 13 workshop. “We’ve got seniors who are actually hibernating in their homes, not coming out because they’re not able to be involved in senior activities.”
Metropolis leaders initially predicted the neighborhood middle’s reopening would happen in December. As a substitute, the town accomplished the renovations in February. On Feb. 18, the town invited the Washougal Senior Affiliation members to come back rejoice the neighborhood middle’s reopening.
“Everyone that I’ve talked to says it looks awesome,” mentioned Tanya Irvin, the vp of the senior affiliation. “It looks so much bigger and brighter. We’re so excited.”
A few dozen older folks attended the occasion, which featured meals, drinks and speeches by Washougal Metropolis Councilwoman and former Mayor Molly Coston and Jason Van Aalsburg, the town’s public works senior analyst.
“I was at the (Jan. 13) meeting where a great number of you, probably 30 of you, came and rallied for this reopening, and we’ve tried to really facilitate that,” Coston advised the group gathered on the reopening celebration. “I understand the trouble it has (caused), the hardship, especially on a lot of you seniors that have been isolated all winter long. I do appreciate that. Living by myself, I kind of understand some of those issues.”
Van Aalsburg mentioned the up to date neighborhood middle will slot in with the remainder of the town’s downtown renovations.
“(The renovations) gave it a little bit of an updated look. There’s a lot more light in here. I feel like it opens up the whole place a little bit. And I think it’ll work well with everything that’s coming down the road with the rest of the project,” Van Aalsburg mentioned.
Schommer and Sons, a Portland-based contractor, changed the neighborhood middle’s east-facing exterior home windows with a storefront roll-up door and a sectional door, and put in a brand new exterior cover and siding.
“We’ll have access on both sides of the building because we’re going to have a parking lot to the west, and then just off these new doors is going to be an outdoor space,” Van Aalsburg mentioned. “You can open the roll-up door and have kind of an indoor-outdoor type of space opening into the park. Hopefully, the seniors or any other members of the community can come and rent it out and utilize that space.”
Throughout the renovations, members of the native senior affiliation quickly relocated their actions to a number of places, together with Bethel Group Church, St. Anne’s Episcopal Church and the Camas Group Middle.
“We got through it,” Irvin mentioned. “We had to be flexible. Everything was going to be at The Outpost, and then it closed, and we had to scramble. Everyone found their own little places to do their stuff, and it worked out OK to keep connected.”
The transition wasn’t as simple for senior affiliation members who had been extra remoted, Irvin added.
“There’s a lot of people that live by themselves, they don’t have a lot of contact with others, and this was their contact, so it’s been hard on them,” she mentioned. “But I think that all of the regular people will be back once they know that we’re up and going again. We’re looking forward to getting back into a normal routine.”
Now that the middle’s renovations are full, the town is shifting into the downtown revitalization venture’s second and closing part, which incorporates the creation of an outside neighborhood house, an off-leash canine park, a pocket park, a splash pad and expanded public parking.
Van Aalsburg mentioned the town will create “entirely new parking lots” however plans to have the brand new tons accomplished earlier than eradicating current tons so folks visiting Washougal Metropolis Corridor, the native library or the neighborhood middle will nonetheless have parking spots in the course of the building.
Town anticipates that the venture’s second part, which is being constructed by Vancouver-based Colf Building, can be accomplished by early 2026.
“I’m super excited,” Van Aalsburg mentioned. “I think this will really be a lift for the downtown core. We’re trying to get people excited to come down here even more than they probably already are with the amenities that we’ll be providing.”