Vancouver Park Board
Tuesday, February 23, 2016
News Release
Another milestone on the path to a new Killarney Seniors Centre achieved
The Vancouver Park Board has approved a contract for the design and construction of the Killarney Seniors Centre.
The $5.9 million contract with the team of Ventana Construction Corporation and Taylor Kurtz Architecture + Design Inc. was approved at a Board meeting last night. The contract must also be approved by Vancouver City Council, which will review it tomorrow.
"Another milestone on the path to a new Killarney Seniors Centre has been achieved—addressing a critical service gap for seniors in southeast Vancouver," said Vancouver Park Board Chair Sarah Kirby-Yung. "By incorporating core features identified by community stakeholders such as a kitchen and multi-purpose rooms, the facility will provide important recreation and socialization opportunities for seniors."
There is a shortage of seniors' services in southeast Vancouver, home to one-third of the city's senior population.
"We have long awaited this important facility and we are absolutely delighted that construction will begin soon," said Lorna Gibbs, President of the Southeast Vancouver Seniors' Arts & Cultural Centre Society.
Funding for the two-storey 10,000 square foot seniors centre, which will be added to the north-east corner of the existing community centre, is shared equally between the Park Board/City, Provincial and Federal governments.
The centre is expected to achieve LEED Gold certification with a 35 percent reduction in energy consumption over Vancouver Building Bylaw requirements. Other sustainability elements include LED lighting, passive natural ventilation and rooftop rain water retention.
The full design will be completed this year. Construction will start early 2017 and be completed in early 2018.
The new centre aligns with the Board's direction to staff at last night's meeting to develop a comprehensive seniors' strategy to address how seniors can be best served and supported long-term by Park Board facilities, services, and programs.
In the next 25 years, Vancouver's population of seniors is set to explode. The number of residents aged 65 - 74 will increase almost 80 percent and the number of citizens older than 75 will more than double.
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Media contact:
Vancouver Park Board
604-257-8699
www.vancouver.ca
