Mansion being retrofitted for Clinton senior center

CLINTON Clinton's senior citizens will not have a new place to call home, even when the work is done on their senior center later this year.

Rather, the town's senior citizens will have a majestic, 132-year-old building, one filled with history and originally built by local merchant John R. Foster in 1882 before becoming The Clinton Home for the Aged in 1900.

With a projected project cost of $1.9 million, the old mansion will become a new senior center, outfitted with upgrades like state of the art kitchen and new wiring.

"Now it's becoming a reality for us," Council on Aging Chairman William Grady Sr. said as workers from M. O'Connor Contracting worked heavy equipment handling drainage and parking lot work and wielded hammers driving nails to renovate interior space.

The path to a new senior center has, however, been long. For several years the issue was whether the town should build a new center or renovate an older building.

The Clinton Home had originally been transferred to the Clinton Home Foundation to be used to benefit seniors, and it operated as a rest home for years. Finally, it was closed as health regulations made it more difficult to operate, and the building was offered to the town.

Transferring it to the town for use as a senior center fulfilled the intent of the use, and as a bonus came at the right cost: free. But significant renovations would be needed.

Voters had approved $1.4 million for the project at a town meeting, but the town had already spent $475,000 of that to buy the American Legion property on Chestnut Street, a site on which a new building has been planned before the town opted to go in another direction.

A $763,000 Community Development Block gGrant added to the kitty, along with other funds from the town's economic development office. In addition, the Clinton Home Foundation offered up funds $300,000 for a trust fund, the interest to be used for future maintenance, plus $50,000 a year for five years toward costs.

Voters added another $100,000 at the recent town meeting.

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Mansion being retrofitted for Clinton senior center