The ongoing debate between the Bellevue Seniors and the Municipality regarding the possibility of relocating the Bellevue Seniors has been a heated one, and Marge Houda, Treasurer of the Bellevue Seniors Centre, says they are not moving.
The Municipality is, and has been for some time, concerned about the safety risks associated with the building the seniors are currently in, yet the Bellevue Seniors feel that there is no need to move, and the problems the centre has can be fixed.
The place the Municipality has suggested for relocation is the M.D.M school in Bellevue.
Members of the centre feel that the M.D.M is not suitable to house the seniors club, as it is not handicapped accessible, it sits on an inconvenient hill and the kitchen is considered to be unequipped.
Currently, the Bellevue Seniors Centre is located on 213th Street in Bellevue. The concerns of the building revolve around water infiltration and an unstable roof.
An audit was done on the building last spring and deemed the seniors Centre as marginal, after reviewing the structural, exterior, interior, mechanical and electric aspects of the building.
Water infiltration was a large concern from the audit, particularly water leaking thought the roof.
However, despite the safety concerns, Houda said that they’re not leaving, at least without a fight.
“We’re not moving,” said Houda.
‘We’ll fix the problems with the building ourselves.”
She went on to say that some of the problems the Municipality is concerned about, aren’t serious problems to the Seniors.
“They want the roof to get new shingles because they think the roof is leaking,” she said. “But the roof is not leaking.”
The Bellevue Seniors have been at the Bellevue Seniors Centre for over 60 years. No final decisions regarding the new location of the Seniors Centre has been made.
