Paul Finney came Tuesday morning to plead with Allen County commissioners to pony up funds to restore the front of the Humboldt Senior Center to how it looked in the early 1900s.
He never got a chance.
Commissioner Gary McIntosh was pre-emptive, saying the issue was “timing. We don’t have the time to dig as deeply into” what it would cost to remove a metal front and then redo brick, mortar and windows underneath.
Chairman Dick Works was more to the point.
“I think the issue is it doesn’t need done,” he said. “I think it’s one of the more attractive buildings” in downtown Humboldt.
Also, McIntosh said, he and Rob Francis were lame ducks with few meetings left and “it will be up to the new guys to decide priorities.”
Tom Williams and Jim Talkington will fill Francis and McIntosh’s seats at mid-January.
Finney led a small delegation of Humboldt Downtown Action Team members to the meeting. They think if the county does historical restoration of the senior center’s front, private owners of downtown buildings will follow suit.
“We’re looking for private owners who are willing to participate,” said Larry Tucker, Humboldt administrator, noting they might be able to attract grant money that isn’t available to government-sponsored groups such as the DAT.
“The answer,” Works said decisively, “is ‘no’ for now,” to restoration work.
McIntosh approved of Works’ comment.
Francis also said he was more concerned about interior improvements to the center. New carpet, roof repairs, paint touch-up and window repairs should take priority, he said.
DAT members earlier said restoration of the building’s facade would cost about $35,000, a number that Works then thought likely was low.
“Probably more like $60,000,” was his estimate.
County Clerk Sherrie Riebel said expenditures to benefit the Humboldt center had totaled $28,000 in the past two years, including work to level and shore up its floor. Riebel said that number included utilities costs. Exact costs of repairs would take some time to pull from the Humboldt account, she said, and allowed utilities costs probably weren’t too large a portion.
Commissioners also pointed out that senior centers in Iola, Moran and LaHarpe had needs, as well as the Senior Citizens Center, 223 N. State St., where clothing and household goods are sold.
“We have money (in the senior services budget), but just because we have it doesn’t mean we have to spend it,” Works observed, and that the commissioners’ lack of enthusiasm for the historical preservation shouldn’t be considered just as frugality.
“We’ve frozen wages the past several years,” Francis added. “If we were to fix the front of the senior center, what would that tell our employees.”
Contrary to Francis’ remarks, on Jan. 10, all county employees received a 3.6 percent wage increase, the first in three years.
An hour before Finney and DAT members arrived, commissioners denied a request from a private party who wanted to use the Humboldt center for a name-brand apparel sale.
Works said he didn’t think a tax-supported structure should be used as a site for someone to compete with established merchants.
Senior center upgrade not on county’s radar
