Governor Steve Beshear's Communications Office
Gov. Beshear Breaks Ground on New Warren County Senior Center

Presents $500,000 grant to help fund new project

BOWLING GREEN, Ky. – Governor Steve Beshear today joined local leaders to break ground on the new Warren County Senior Center and present a $500,000 check to help fund the new project. The new center will serve nearly double the amount of seniors it currently serves and will nearly quadruple the size of the previous center.

“Ensuring that our seniors have adequate access to services is a priority of my administration,” said Gov. Beshear. “The new Warren County Senior Center will provide a much-needed, permanent facility in the community for seniors to safely gather and easily access educational and recreational resources.”

The $500,000 Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) was awarded to the Warren County Fiscal Court to construct an approximately 4,000-square-foot senior citizens center in the county-owned Ephraim White Park. The county is also contributing $160,000 to help fund the project.

Prior to May 2010, Warren County seniors met in an approximately 1,000-square-foot area of the Parks and Recreation Administration Building in Basil Griffin Park. Flooding in May 2010 caused significant damage to the building and since then seniors have been meeting around twice a month at the Alvaton Gym Community Center. Pending FEMA approval, the Parks and Recreation Administration Building will be demolished by the county due to the extent of flooding damage. The new senior center in Ephraim Park is located outside of the floodplain and will not be as susceptible to future flood damage.

The new Warren County Senior Center will contain a large multi-purpose room, kitchen, dining area, offices and more. It will be fully ADA accessible and provide adequate space to meet the programming and physical needs of seniors throughout Warren County. The new center will be operated by the Warren County Parks and Recreation Department and will allow the county to increases services from the estimated 520 seniors per month currently served to more than 1,000 seniors per month.

“Projects such as this assist more than just a few individuals — they improve the lives of citizens throughout the entire community,” said Department for Local Government (DLG) Commissioner Tony Wilder. “The residents of Warren County will be well served with the addition of this modern, spacious and safe facility designated specifically for seniors in the community.”

“I’m just proud that we can give something back to our senior citizens who have worked so hard to help build our community and make it what it is today,” said Sen. Mike Wilson.

“This is a great day for Kentucky’s seniors in Bowling Green and Warren County,” said Rep. Jody Richards. “One of the principle responsibilities of government is to care for seniors and improve the quality of life for those who have contributed so much to our city, county, and Commonwealth.”

"This new Senior Center has been a long time coming. They have been meeting in temporary space for over two and a half years, ever since the biblical flooding in May of 2010 left our old center untenable when the waters finally subsided,” said Warren County Judge Executive Mike Buchanon. “We have utilized temporary space in the old Alvaton gym, but this new larger facility will enable more of the rapidly growing number of active Warren County seniors enjoy each other socially, and provide a convenient, safe, clean environment for education and recreational activities. We deeply appreciate the generous CDBG assistance from Gov. Beshear and DLG, which made this possible."

The state’s CDBG program is administered by DLG and funded through the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). Kentucky’s Congressional leaders’ ongoing support of the CDBG program ensures the availability of continued funding in Kentucky and nationally.

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