The boxes are finally being unpacked at Red Willow Place, the building that now houses the renamed St. Albert Seniors Association, formerly the St. Albert 50+ Club. The city-owned facility had been closed for slightly more than a year to accommodate the major renovation and upgrading.
Although some of the old couches have remained, there’s barely a stitch of the past structure that would be recognizable in the new one. That doesn’t make executive director Karin Debenham worry about how the club’s members are going to accept the changes, however.
“The seniors are going to absolutely love this place!” she enthused.
“It’s spacious. It has some elements – some similarities – of where we were before. We project close to a doubling of membership within a year. I think it will draw people like a magnet.”
The long-awaited work on the redesigned building at 7 Taché St. was completed on a budget of $3.47 million. Some of the features that Debenham claims as her favourites are the new bottleneck-free grand entrance and passageway with sitting area, as well as the reading room (complete with those leather sofas from the old club). That lounge area comes with a built-in gas fireplace and a window view to the new deck that overlooks the backyard of the facility.
She also is a big fan of the utilitarian floor plan.
“I love the multipurpose format.”
Instead of having a separate auditorium, card room and a pool room, there is now a large L-shaped space with room dividers and enough floor area to accommodate approximately 250 people. She foresees that it will become a popular new venue for weddings and other larger events in the city.
Members will surely be pleased to get back to their new and improved areas including the wood shop, art room, and billiards room. Willows Gift Shop will return, allowing for the display and sale of some of the handmade arts and crafts items made by members. There is new meeting space and storage space, plus redesigned offices for the employees.
Debenham is also thrilled with the new commercial kitchen, but even more so that it will be headed by Kasiran Simin. The chef (formerly of Padmanadi, Zinc and Culina Cantina) is an international red seal chef who trained in France and Germany.
“He is a gift to us. We’re extremely fortunate.”
Staff had relocated to Grandin Tower during the construction while programs were shuffled between a variety of locations for the last 12 months.
The doors will open back to regular use on Monday and a grand reopening event will be held in September.
