Betty Ehart Senior Center will receive a new HVAC system after Los Alamos County Council approved the $3.6 million capital improvement project during the June 30 meeting. Photo by Kirsten Laskey/ladailypost.com
By KIRSTEN LASKEY
Los Alamos Daily Post
kirsten@ladailypost.com
Betty Ehart Senior Center needs renovations and improvements. Its heating ventilation and air conditioning systems (HVAC), electrical service, and lighting all need replacement along with general renovations including doors, windows, and interior finishes. As a result, Los Alamos County Council unanimously approved a $3.6 million services agreement for the renovation project during its June 30 meeting.
The $3.6 million covers the HVAC renovation project.
In an email to the Los Alamos Daily Post, Project Manager Sobia Sayeda explained replacing the HVAC system and the need for general renovations were identified in the County’s 2022 Facility Condition Assessment (FCA) Report.
Senior Project Manager Miguel Jimenez told Council that the electric service needs upgrades to support the new HVAC system. Renovations to the lighting and ceiling finishes will also be conducted as part of the HVAC replacement work. Doors and windows will be replaced, and new finishes will be part of the forthcoming general renovations.
Furthermore, Sayeda wrote in the email that an accessibility evaluation conducted by the County in 2022 identified ways to improve accessibility and to comply with the most recent Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) standards.
In short, “The FCA noted that the HVAC system is outdated and has reached the end of its useful service life, making replacement necessary to ensure reliability, energy efficiency, and occupant comfort,” Sayeda wrote. “Various other building envelope items including doors and windows were identified as outdated and in need of replacement.”
Social Services Division Manager Jessica Strong, whose division oversees the Los Alamos Retired Seniors Organization’s (LARSO) contracts at the Betty Ehart Senior Center, added during an interview with the Los Alamos Daily Post that the project is “basically helping that building, the Betty Ehart Senior Center … to have another 20, 30 years of functionality by getting these systems replaced.”
The work at the Betty Ehart Senior Center will begin Aug. 3 and will shut it down through May 2027.
As a result, there has been a multi-departmental effort to determine how to proceed with the senior center’s services and programs.
According to a press release, LARSO will continue providing congregate meals, home-delivered meals, transportation services, case management, Day Out, and its regular schedule of classes, wellness programs, educational activities and social groups.
During the June 30 Council meeting, Jimenez said there was a “a big coordination on how to continue LARSO services and programs while we are renovating the building.”
He added that different locations were discussed but ultimately, Fuller Lodge was determined to be the most convenient to host congregate meals, the Day Out Program and LARSO’s transportation office.
“Fuller Lodge will be available for them to hold these programs throughout the construction at the Betty Ehart Center with the exception of a few dates, but we have worked with them and found council chambers (can) hold congregate meals on those dates,” Jimenez said.
He added there are only six dates that Fuller Lodge will be unavailable.
Meals will be prepared in the kitchen at the White Rock Senior Center and delivered to Fuller Lodge, Jimenez said.
Furthermore, transportation services will continue for Day Out Program members and Public Works is temporarily designating additional accessible parking at Fuller Lodge to accommodate LARSO members who drive for meals.
Strong said there is a big effort to accommodate everyone’s needs.
“It is certainly inconvenient to have the Betty Ehart Senior Center be closed but the goal after several months of planning with the LARSO staff was to make sure none of the seniors’ meals would be disrupted – whether in person or home delivered … we wanted to maintain Monday through Friday lunch service as best we could,” she said.
Also, Strong said there is a desire to maintain LARSO’s activity calendar and the Day Out Program.
“While inconvenient, every single piece, with minimum disruption to schedules … has been accounted for,” she said.
It will be a diversion from the usual routine but Strong emphasized that the end result will be worth it.
“We want seniors to have a wonderful building in which to socialize and have their meals and feel this connection,” she said. “These major systems need repairing. They are beyond their useful life … I am really hopeful to see this space continue to provide this location for another 20, 30 years once the improvements are done. I really hope the work we have done to minimize the disruptions is valuable. We wanted to make sure congregate meals still happen … that all classes continue at the same days and times, recognizing the importance that LARSO programming plays in people’s lives, we wanted to minimize the disruption as much as possible.”
