AOA move looks like right decision
We’re very glad to see the Flathead County commissioners moving forward with a plan to build a new facility for the Agency on Aging.
Aging services provided for more than a decade in a rented former auction barn on Kelly Road will be relocated to a $6 million building planned along First Avenue West as a companion building to the Earl Bennett Building. The new building — to be built within the next two years — will provide space not only for the Agency on Aging but also some Health Department services such as the dental clinic, plus space for the Maintenance Department.
What a difference a year makes.
A year ago the commissioners came under fire for stalling a building project to provide a home for the Agency on Aging, which has outgrown the capacity at the rented facility. After an architectural report recommended a site north of the fairgrounds as a preferred location, seniors rallied to support that site. Time was of the essence, seniors said, because the county had a chance to apply for a $450,000 block grant.
The report also looked at a dozen lots south of the courthouse. It is estimated that an 11,000-square-foot building would have cost $2.28 million for the location south of the courthouse and $2.37 million by the fairgrounds.
Now the building to be built south of the courthouse has a pricetag of $6 million. To be fair, the companion building will house other county services and will be a two-story concrete structure. If it had been constructed near the fairgrounds, it likely would have been a more modest structure, perhaps even a metal building.
The commissioners took a lot of heat for scrapping the grant application and waiting with a decision on the AOA relocation. They didn’t want to be rushed into a decision, and we can respect that.
It makes sense on many levels to expand the county’s campus setting in south Kalispell to centralize county services. Our concerns now center around access and parking. If both of those are adequate, the south campus location should make a fine spot for the Agency on Aging.
Editorials represent the majority opinion of the Daily Inter Lake’s editorial board.