Senior Center to Open Mid-July

Johns Creek will open Park Place at Newtown School, its new facility for active, older citizens, in mid-July, thanks to proceeds from a Community Development Block Grant.

John Kachmar, city manager for Johns Creek, said the funds from the CDBG were used to rehabilitate the old Newtown School as a place where active adults, 60 and older, will be served. The programs will include cooking, active sports, fitness, physical health and programs normally associated with similar organizations.

When asked if there was a single factor that led to the City of Johns Creek opting to use the funds to renovate the school, located at Newtown Park, Kachmar said the senior citizen demographic is an eligible population to serve under the requirements by U.S. Department of Housing & Urban Development (HUD).

There are approximately 6,000 senior citizens in Johns Creek. Kachmar explained that the city wanted to create active volunteerism from these senior citizens. The entitlement funds are expected to be approximately $190,000 for the 2010 program year.

Robby Newton, parks division manager for the city, said great care was taken in preserving much of the original structure of Newtown Elementary School, which was operational from 1929 to 1978.

The school, which is registered with the National Registry of Historic Places, is today a far cry from being dubbed the No. 1 eyesore in Johns Creek as it was after it was abandoned and boarded-up.

The brick exterior of Park Place and the ceilings, as well as some of the six-panel doors are from the original school, but everything else on the inside is brand new.

The windows are traditional, with the goal of taking advantage of natural sunlight. The center will boast a computer station to give senior citizens a chance to learn about the Internet and social media, for example.

The facility, which is Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) compliant, will also boast an art room, dining room and meeting spaces as well as a kitchen where cooking lessons will be given, among other amenities.

Newton said the emphasis of Park Place is on a healthy and active lifestyle that will include fitness classes, yoga, stretching, etc.  The Newtown Park Foundation also played an integral role in the landscaping of the new center. It put in the patio flooring, furniture and low walls around the patio, as well as the landscaping around the center.

The Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) is an entitlement grant offered by the federal government to any U.S. city that has more than 50,000 people. The grants are authorized under Title I of the Housing and Community Development Act of 1974.

Johns Creek became eligible for grant funds under the Entitlement Community Program. The entitlement funds, awarded by HUD, are to provide a better living environment for persons of low to moderate income. Since the city does not have defined census blocks of low to moderate income individuals, its using its funds for senior citizens and citizens with disabilities.

The activities that the funds are used for are based on the assumption that there must be low to moderate income people in the city. The block grants were first used under the ADA in the parks because some were not compliant when the city took over management from Fulton County.

The funds were also used for the senior citizen center. Thirdly, CDBG funds were used for a study on fair housing in Johns Creek in 2010. There were observations about the city and recommendations about what the city could do to ensure there was access to fair housing in the city. The city council adopted that study. There is currently a program that subsidizes housing for public workers.

The block grant study, which referred to fair and affordable housing, found Johns Creek was already a diverse community, but there were some barriers. Affordable housing in Johns Creek is more complex because the land is so much more expensive and outside of the city’s control.

Kachmar said the only way the city can have affordable housing is if someone donated land to the city. Unless there is a dramatic change in the economic situation that will lead to a drop in land prices, then there are no expectations of ever having affordable housing, which is market-driven.

The city will also hold a second public hearing on June 20, to consider the 2011 CDBG action plan. Input from citizens in the formulation of the plan is encouraged. Other community needs may be established during this process. The hearing slated for June 20 will come after the city’s second 30-day comment period that ends June 14. The plan will be submitted to the Johns Creek City Council for final adoption.  You may direct public comments to cdbg@johnscreekga.gov.