Upcoming renovation of Colorado Springs Senior Center forces some adjacent merchants to relocate
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (KRDO) -- While many senior citizens wonder about the availability of their favorite program or service when an 18-month upgrade of the city's Senior Center begins next year, the project also has around a dozen nearby business owners and nonprofit agencies moving to new locations.
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Ryan Trujillo, the city's deputy chef of staff for Mayor John Suthers, said that officials have already notified affected property owners about the project, and that all office leases will expire at the end of next March.
"That's because we're still in the planning stages and we don't know how much of the property will be needed for the center," he said Tuesday.
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Some businesses and nonprofits have already closed their offices at Golf Acres and others will eventually follow; but those managers face higher rents, longer leases and strong competition for space produced by the COVID-19 pandemoc.
Mike Kelly, who owns an optical store, said that finding another location, paying more in rent and renovating the property to his needs, has cost him $17,000 so far.
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"Finding a new location now, you're paying about three times the amount that you (paid before) in rent," he explained. "The pandemic did us no favors. Generally, when you move a business from a location, you lose about 30% to 40% for a couple of years. I can handle that, but some of the businesses here can't. I fear that they'll close up for good."
Kelly said that he found a new office in the nearby Bonn Shopping Center and plans to open before Thanksgiving.
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Meanwhile, a few doors down, Michelle Vacha -- executive director of Community Dental Health, a nonprofit that provides free or low-cost care to seniors -- expressed mixed feelings about the project.
"I agree that this (Senior Center) is an older building and needs to be renovated," she said. "I don't agree (with) the lack of consideration that my organization and other senior agencies in this complex, how it's been handled. We're just as relevant as the Senior Center is. It's hard to find an appropriate location and move in a short period of time. And will I have to lay off employees if I lose business because my clients can't find me or get to me?"
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Kelly said that the moves from Gold Acres will be permanent.
"No one's going to leave, get a lease somewhere else and come back," he said.
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As for programs and services at the center, Trujillo said that some of them could be relocated to YMCA branches across town; the YMCA operates the center for the city.
"But some could be suspended during construction," he said. "We're exploring options to use other community centers or other facilities that can accommodate senior programming during construction."