New Merkel House to open next year
When the current New Merkel House was inherited by the city of Vestavia Hills after being annexed Cahaba Heights in 2002, the Vestavia Hills City Council at the time “strongly felt” it could do better for the city’s senior citizens than the converted residence, City Manager Jeff Downes said.
The building includes tight spaces, smaller rooms and an upstairs kitchen with a downstairs dining room. Still, for the past 18 years, senior citizens have gathered at the senior center and enjoyed their time together, despite the challenges of the current building.
But as 2021 inches ever closer, senior citizens can look forward to a new New Merkel House, situated near Cahaba Heights Park, that will provide more open space and will be more user-friendly.
“It is more efficient space,” Downes said.
The new building, set to be completed in January, will have just one story instead of two, and the size of the meeting room will be doubled. There also will be offices and an additional room for programs. Downes said there will be more options at the new building.
Having a central place for the city’s senior citizens to congregate is important to many people in the city, Downes said.
“We’ve done many, many surveys, and all point to a need for more adult activities,” Downes said.
The new building will also allow visitors not only to continue to interact with students at nearby Vestavia Hills Elementary Cahaba Heights, but also to interact with those at the ballfields at Cahaba Heights Park.
“I think it creates a nice opportunity for seniors to co-mingle with the youth,” Downes said.
NEW OPPORTUNITIES
Sandi Wilson, Vestavia Hills’ Parks and Recreation superintendent for senior services, said moving to the new center allows the New Merkel House to increase the number of people it can help on a daily basis. Right now, New Merkel House Director Melanie Perry said the center average about 16 guests per day, with that amount varying slightly depending on the day.
“We’re really excited about the opportunities that are going to be offered,” Wilson said. “We’re expecting this place to just blow up.”
Perry said she has been working this summer to pack things at the current building, purge what needs to be purged and spend time with seniors, reassuring them that soon, they will be in their new home. That has been especially uplifting and helpful because she hasn’t been able to spend as much time with them as normal due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, which can be especially risky for older adults.
In addition to having a larger meeting space, Wilson said having the extra room will allow them to have more than one program at once. Also, having multiple bathrooms will be helpful, she said. Perry said she hopes to add more programs and opportunities for the seniors who attend.
Downes said the property will also have flat, expanded parking, as opposed to the few spaces near the main, upstairs room at the current building. The property also includes a sidewalk accessible to people in wheelchairs and a fireplace area.
The project will cost about $950,000 and will be built by Argo Building. The cost is about $85,000 more than originally budgeted, but the adjacent Cahaba Heights Park project came in about $238,000 under budget, so together, the Community Spaces projects in Cahaba Heights came in about $54,000 under budget.
The increase came after the city chose to include the construction of a dog park with the bid for the new senior center. It was unknown where the dog park would be placed, whether it would be next to the new New Merkel House or the new park. Downes said due to more parking, it was placed with the New Merkel House.The cost also increased because construction workers have to make adjustments to make the site accessible to people in wheelchairs due to a significant slope on the property, he said.
Downes said the ongoing pandemic should have no impact on the construction project. However, the project was slightly delayed so there would be no conflict with the contractor working on the Cahaba Heights Park project, which was finished in late spring.
ONE LAST PARTY
During her time leading the senior center, Perry has become accustomed to finding any excuse to throw fun parties for the senior citizens who attend. She hopes there will be one last party at the current building before they move — a farewell party to the building that has served its guests well, despite its limitations, she said.
After construction is complete and the site has been turned over to the city, people will see the end result of plans first made more than a decade ago and then put into action with the rest of the Community Spaces Plan.
“To see it all come to fruition is really exciting,” Perry said.