The new Huron County Senior Wellness Center will be built adjacent to the rear of the Huron County Senior Center on Nugent Road in Bad Axe. (View file photo)
Bad Axe – Since approving the land lease for Bad Axe’s new wellness center last October, the project continues to move forward.
The agreement, between Huron County and Bay City-based Region 7 Aging Authority (R7AAA), is for the construction of a PACE (Program of All-inclusive Care for the Elderly) Wellness Center.
Candace Becker, project manager for Region 7, attended the recent commissioners meeting and presented minor changes to the overall schematic design for the wellness center, which were approved by commissioners.
“The previously approved site plan had the two buildings separated and connected at the very back by a hallway,” Becker said. “This new site plan will connect the buildings on the west side, rather than connecting them together with an actual wall.”
Becker said they are seeking approval of new plans to continue site planning and move forward with the next phase of the project.
The center, officially called the Huron County Senior Wellness Center, will be located behind the Huron County Senior Center on Nugent Road in Bad Axe, but it has been a long time coming.
Commissioners voted to contribute $750,000 to the project in January 2020. Becker said Region 7 also received a $1 million grant from the state to help with funding.
The approximately 8,000-square-foot wellness center will feature an adult day center, clinic, program food staging and dining, rehabilitation and physical therapy areas and administrative space.
Becker said the exact cost of the project has yet to be determined as officials continue to gather proposals.
“There are grants available that are still available, but it all depends on the final floor space and things like that,” she said.
But Becker said changes to the blueprints could reduce the center’s overall cost, according to officials with project contractors FED Design/Builders and C2AE Architecture/Engineering of Gladwin.
She said the change will simply eliminate the long hallway between the two spaces and connect them together.
Officials are still in the conceptual design stage for the project.
“That’s why we had to get permission to annex our building to the existing senior center,” Becker said.
Region 7 currently has a PACE center in Fort Gratiot, serving Huron, Sanilac, Tuscola and St. Clair counties.
PACE programs help seniors live in their own homes instead of in institutions, provide home visits from doctors and dentists, and offer adult day care services.
About 120 people receive services through the Huron County Senior Wellness Center program, about 50 of whom work at the center, Becker explained at the last commission meeting. To qualify, people must be 55 or older and eligible for nursing home level care.
Becker said in addition to revising the blueprints, he is still looking for commissioners to appoint someone from the county to a design committee that will work with the project’s architect and others on the overall look and design of the center.
She said this will be crucial as the project moves forward on the exterior of the building.
“The senior center is an old-fashioned brick building, so we want to get input on what the building should look like,” Becker said.
No date has yet been set for when construction will begin on the project, Becker said.
“That’s still up in the air,” she said. “I know we’re a little bit behind schedule. We were hoping for October, but it’s possible we won’t start until November.”
