Tuscumbia moves forward with senior center project

The Tuscumbia City Council voted during its June 1 meeting to move forward with a senior center project that has been up in the air for multiple administrations.

Senior citizens in Tuscumbia have been asking for their own dedicated space for several years now, going back multiple mayors and Council members.

The seniors currently meet at the Multipurpose Center at 601 N Commons St. E.

The group had moved from there to a space at Northwest Shoals Community College, but the location was not always available and is now undergoing renovations, so the seniors are back at the Multipurpose Center.

“Whether or not we need a dedicated senior center depends on who you ask,” said Tuscumbia Mayor T.W. Billings. “I want it, and it would absolutely be an asset to the city. There will be people that didn’t go to the previous center that will go to this one.”

The new senior center project is still in the beginning stages, with the Council’s June 1 vote giving Billings the go ahead to look at purchasing land for the center and having plans drawn up.

Billings said the city was awarded a $400,000 Community Development Block Grant during a previous administration, with the city required to match that total plus some different fees.

All told, Billings said the funds for the project will be around $1 million.

Though he has the Council’s blessing to move forward, Billings said he is going to wait to negotiate a land purchase and have plans drawn up until the grant money has been deposited and the city has agreed on how to pay the $500K-plus matching funds.

“The land we are looking at is at the intersection of Cave Street and Avalon Avenue,” Billings said. “It’s two lots in the southwest corner of the complex near Helen Keller Hospital. It’s a really good location because you will be able to enter from Cave or Avalon, and hopefully it’s not necessary, but since I am older myself, I can speak that the center being near a hospital is nice.”

Billings said the city has been offered the land for around $120,000, which is half the market value, and the location is within Tuscumbia city limits.

Once the funds are in order, Billings said the city will meet with Brad Bernard of CREATE Architects to discuss the building’s plans.

Billings said since the city’s seniors will not occupy the proposed building at all hours of the day, the space may be rented out for things like meetings, reunions and birthday parties at times it would otherwise be unused.

“That may help recoup some of the operating costs,” he said. “It is absolutely something that is needed. Lots of families will be relocating to the area over the next two or three years because of the factory in Barton. I bet some of them might have elderly parents or other relatives that come with them that would love to have a place to go and get some recreation.”