Snohomish Senior Center takes shape

Published 9:40 pm Sunday, June 29, 2008

SNOHOMISH — A new senior center finally is going up in Snohomish after obstacles stalled the project for several years.

Construction on the 6,000-square-foot center began in April and is expected to wrap up by Christmas, said Karen Charnell, executive director of the Snohomish Senior Center.

The center is still about $300,000 short of its goal to secure $1.5 million, Charnell said.

It plans to pay off the $300,000 in loans if the money doesn’t get raised before the new center at 506 Fourth St. gets up and running.

Donations are being sought, Charnell said. People can also pitch in by buying a memorial tile to be installed at the new center.

“We are terribly excited,” Charnell said. “We are looking forward to being in our new facility.”

The senior center has operated at a local church for about three years, waiting for the new center to go up.

Supporters of the project originally wanted to build on a former cemetery site along Cypress Avenue. The project was moved to Fourth Street after archaeologists found 96 locations at the cemetery site they believed still contain human remains.

Afterward, the city had to clean up oil-contaminated soil and remove two underground water tanks from the Fourth Street site, further delaying the project.

Now, construction workers are plugging away, Charnell said. The new center will have a kitchen and will be close to the Snohomish Library.

“You can see the building. It’s progressing fast,” she said.

Reporter Yoshiaki Nohara: 425-339-3029 or ynohara@heraldnet.com.