Plum Senior Center Expansion Project Begins

The welcomed a full house as employees and local officials broke ground for a new addition on Wednesday.

The center is expanding and modernizing its facility. A café, a kitchen and a fitness center are among the additions in the works.

Nina Segelson, executive director of the senior center, said the expansion project has been "long awaited."

Segelson, who has been working on the project since it was just a concept in 2004, said this change will be a renewed way to serve the Plum community.

Borough Mayor Richard Hrivnak agreed.

"Organizations like the senior center are pieces of the fabric that make Plum great," he said. "I'm proud."

Jeff Pope, a member of the senior center's executive board and expansion committee, said the process hasn't been easy, but he's happy plans finally are coming to fruition.

"We can say, 'Hey, we are finally on our way,'" he said.

County Councilman Nick Futules, State Rep. Tony DeLuca, borough officials, and representatives from the offices of several state and county officials were present at the ceremony.

The $625,000 project is expected to be completed by the end of the year. Financial support—about $500,000 worth—for the project comes from state and regional grants, including one from Allegheny County’s Community Infrastructure and Tourism Fund and a Community Block Development Grant.

The remaining $125,000 will be earned in fundraisers for the project. Swede Construction Corp. of Elizabeth Township was hired to perform the work at the center, which is on Center New Texas Road.