If you've been in or around the Evergreen Center lately, you'll have noticed there's a lot of construction and renovation work going on, both inside and out. Gary Williams, Assistant to the President at AIDS Community Services, is coordinating the day to day work, so we asked him for an overview of the changes in store at the Evergreen Center.
"For those who may not know, our building at 206 South Elmwood Avenue, The Evergreen Center, formerly known as the Roanoke Arms, was built in 1901 as the Pan American Exposition hotel and is on local, state, and national historic registers. One of the projects we are excited about is the restorative painting around the exterior perimeter of the building. This is made possible by the community Foundation of Greater Buffalo’s Historic Preservation grant.
Secondly, we are able to remodel what was once the Vito’s and Chowbella’s restaurant space into what will be our new Wellness Center, along with offices, a conference room, private meeting space, and a small workout/weight room. The larger open center space will house a lunch program, classroom and learning activities, as well as casual gatherings designed to keep clients engaged in healthy, non-risk activities. This is made possible through the Cummings Foundation and a HUD funded Community Development Block Grant administered by the City of Buffalo.
Elsewhere in the building, we have updated electrical circuits to house 2 additional freezers in our pantry program. We have also been replacing and rewiring some antiquated lighting, replaced security lighting outside the building and installed a security light at the rear exit into the parking lot. We have finished updating all our exit signs with efficient LED lights. We were spending anywhere from $400-$600/year replacing these bulbs that burn 24/7/365. We now won’t have to replace them for approximately 10 years. These have approximately a 2 year payback in the bulb replacement alone, and approximately a year and a half payback including energy savings. Speaking of energy savings, we have switched our electric energy supplier which resulted in a supply savings average of 50%, which is roughly $15,000/year.
Over the next couple weeks we will see some additional activity in and around the parking lot. We will be replacing the rotted and broken stockade fencing with new pressure treated, heavy duty custom fencing. Following that will be the installation of a windbreak/awning over and around the rear entrance/exit of the building. In addition to giving staff and guests a little more protection during inclement weather, this will protect and prevent the back door from being swung open or slammed closed on windy days.
We have also recently been able to replaced the parking pad entrance to the parking lot and the sidewalk into the rear entrance of the building. The parking pad was beyond any small repairs we were attempting and the sidewalk had been heaving and needed to be replaced before it became any more of a safety hazard.
Also in the very near future is the beginning of the update to our fire safety system by replacing the current fire alarm panel with an addressable panel that will allow the monitoring company to detect and pinpoint the location of an alarm or problem, providing early warning and evacuation.
Slowly, one bit at a time, the Roanoke Arms/Evergreen Center is getting a facelift to restore her glory and to provide our staff and guests a safe, warm, peaceful place in which to work and to get and stay healthy"
Thanks Gary - we can't wait to see how it turns out!
