FARRELL Mercer Co. Agency on Aging seeks buyer for former center
The agency had planned to renovate and expand the former school building at one time.
By HAROLD GWIN
VINDICATOR SHARON BUREAU
FARRELL, Pa. -- The Mercer County Area Agency on Aging Inc. wants to sell its former senior citizen service center at 1020 Spearman Ave.
The agency had planned on renovating and expanding the former school building at one time but ran out of money after gutting the structure and later moved the center to a new location at 220 N. Buhl Farm Drive in Hermitage.
"We are taking proposals for the acquisition and development of that building," said Ann Marie Spiardi, agency chief executive officer.
"We're hoping that someone has some really innovative ideas to do something with it," she said.
The agency opened its Shenango Valley Multi-Service Center in the former J.A. Farrell School in 1976, paying $1 a year to lease the structure from the Farrell Area School District.
The building was in need of some extensive improvements in 1996, but the agency was reluctant to put money into a structure it didn't own. The Farrell Area School Board agreed to sell it to the agency for $1 in 1998, and an ambitious renovation/expansion project for the building was announced that year.
Initial proposal
The agency initially proposed a project costing between $4.3 million and $4.8 million that would put 20 apartments for the elderly in an addition on the south side, a geriatric health center in an addition on the north side and totally renovate the building.
Those plans never came to fruition, however, as the agency was unable to secure the funding it needed.
The building was closed, gutted and asbestos removed, and a temporary senior center was located in the Wheatland-Farrell United Methodist Church, but the project moved no further.
The agency decided in 2000 to find a new location for its new service center-geriatric center, and the decision was made to buy a building on North Buhl Farm Drive in Hermitage and expand it, despite opposition from Farrell city officials and others who wanted the center to remain in this city.
Lower cost
The revised project carried a cost of about $2.9 million and won the support of the Mercer County commissioners who agreed to back a $2.4 million loan taken out by the agency to help finance the work.
The new Shenango Valley Center for Aging and Geriatric Health opened in early 2002.
The agency had hoped the Mercer County Housing Authority might want the Spearman Avenue building for conversion into apartments, but that hasn't happened.
Spiardi said the building might make a good business incubator as it's right next to a city industrial zone.
LaVon Saternow, Farrell city manager, said she is unaware of any interest in the property.
It is near an industrial zone on the north side of the city but is in a new transitional zoning district created by the city that would permit things such as apartments and limited commercial use but no industrial work.
Spiardi said the agency sent out 33 bidding information packets to prospective developers, some by request but most to companies or individuals the agency thinks might be interested.
Proposals will be opened at 11 a.m. Thursday at the Buhl Farm Drive Center.