County plans groundbreaking for senior center expansion

HERMITAGE, Pa. -- Work is to begin today on the $2.4 million renovation and expansion of the Mercer County Area Agency on Aging's new senior center at 220 N. Buhl Farm Drive.
There will be a groundbreaking ceremony at 1:30 p.m. for the Shenango Valley Center for Aging and Geriatric Health.
The agency has secured some state and local grant funding for the project but the bulk of the financing will come from a bond issue that has been guaranteed by the Mercer County commissioners.
The plan is to renovate a 6,500-square-foot building the agency bought earlier this year and put on an 11,000-square-foot addition.
Officials said they think the new center is centrally located in the 13-municipality service area, which stretches through the Shenango Valley from Clark on the north to Wilmington Township on the south.
It will house a senior center, geriatric health clinic, adult day care facilities, a kitchen and care management offices, said Ann Marie Spiardi, the agency's chief executive officer.
This will be the county's first combination of a senior center and a geriatric health center, enabling the elderly of the county to be served more effectively and efficiently, she said.
It will address health-care needs of older adults and provide a full range of human services to about 150 people a day, she said.