(Spirit Lake)– The Director of the Lakes Area Senior Center, also known as the Activity Center in Spirit Lake, says the facility is in need of repair. Kathleen Johnson is the director of the facility. She says the building is now 33 years-old and that several things need attention…
“We did a grant this year to upgrade our bathroom areas, but we need more money to continue repairing and fixing the building and to serve the citizens of Dickinson county.”
She says new lights are needed for the parking lot as the existing ones no longer work…
“But even if we were to get, but it’s on a wooden pole, but for us to get like a nice, good, metal pole, with two lights on each side, and for two of those, to light the parking lot when our seniors are leaving in the evening, that’s going to cost around $8,000. Our automatic door opener is not working, that needs to be repaired and replaced. Our seniors need that when they’re coming in with a walker or a cane, they need to use that to get into the building. The brackets on the fan above the stove in the kitchen are broken and we need the fan when we’re doing, we started doing a fundraiser every month, we’re doing breakfast on the third Sunday of every month from 8:30 to 12:30. We’ve made over $2,000 in the three Sundays that we’ve had that.”
Johnson says work is also need on a retaining wall that’s on their property. She says while they are seeing some success with fundraisers, that the money isn’t enough to address all the needs they have. Johnson added more people are utilizing the center thanks to additional activities that they’re offering.
She gave her report at Tuesday’s Dickinson County Board of Supervisors meeting.
