Commissioners get ball rolling on new senior center

NORWALK — When will Huron County see a new Senior Center in Norwalk? If all goes well, commissioner Skip Wilde said he would like to see one in 2023. So would Harry Brady. Terry Boose would, too. But Boose also said that is very optimistic. No matter when the doors open, at lease the county is heading in the right direction. Commissioners Tuesday adopted the following resolution: "In the matter of request for statement of qualifications for professional architectural and engineering services for to planning, design and construction management services for the construction of a senior center in Huron County, Ohio." The project will be financed by the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021. The new building will be connected to the Norwalk License Bureau and Title Office building at 305, Shady Lane Drive. That building opened in August 2015 with that purpose in mind. "Basically, when we look back this whole thing, in November 2011, a bond issue for the center was headed to the March 2012 ballot," Huron County Auditor Roland Tkach said. "That failed. If that bond issue would have passed that is where the senior center would have been located. It would have been a $5.5 million bond issue. "In 2013 I woke up and the BMV told me I had to move because we had the worst location in the state of Ohio," he added. "I started looking and the board of commissioners said it had to be on the south side in a county building." Tkach said when that levy failed, the compromise was a plan that included the senior center attched to the BMV. "We had to get the OK from them because they had the rights to that land," he said. "In 2014 construction began, then in August of 2015 we opened the building. The original plan was the parking and utilities were all put in the back with this in mind." "Like George Peppard says, 'I love it when a plan comes together.' Gary Bauer had a big hand in it because he wanted it to mirror the look of Norwalk High School. Gary has a big footprint in the look of Shady Lane Drive." Bauer, who was a commissioner at the time, was on the Norwalk City Schools board of education when the new NHS was built. "I am sure they will have to put in more parking, but the driveways and utilities are already there," Tkach added. "The first time the voters voted in 2012 ... it dates back more than 10 years ago in an effort to have a senior center for Huron County residents." Huron County voters turned down a new senior center three times, but they have passed operating levies seven times since 1994. The next time another senior levy can be on the ballot is 2024 in order to maintain their current funding level. Because of the Ohio Revised Code, "The board of county commissioners may spend moneys for the support of senior citizens services or facilities." "We have decided it is going to go behind the BMV building. It just took a little while to get there," Wilde said. "We're hoping in the spring (to break ground). Everybody is busy. We kind of play it by ear. "If we could get it done in '23 that would be awesome. That would awesome if late fall we could get them in. A lot of variables."