Publication select ▼
MADISON HEIGHTS/HAZEL PARK — Officials in Madison Heights and Hazel Park say their cities will be able to greatly improve their senior centers, thanks to grants awarded from Oakland County to each community.
The grant program is called Oakland County Together. For Madison Heights, the grant means going beyond the scope of the original plans for the new Active Adult Center, under construction between its City Hall and library at Civic Center Plaza on 13 Mile Road just west of John R Road. And for Hazel Park, the grant will fund a variety of renovations that will greatly improve its own senior center, in the Hazel Park Community Center at 620 W. Woodward Heights Blvd., right next to Green Acres Park.
“It’s great to see Oakland County investing in important quality-of-life infrastructure in the south end of the county,” said Hazel Park City Manager Ed Klobucher, via email. “This is truly money that will be well spent.”
According to Melissa Marsh, the city manager of Madison Heights, her city applied for and was awarded $250,000 to enhance the new Active Adult Center. In total, 29 senior centers across the county were awarded a combined $5 million in federal grants to improve their services and facilities.
The grants were available in amounts between $25,000 and $250,000, divvied up from county-allocated dollars through the federal government’s American Recovery Plan Act. Marsh said that the opportunity aligned perfectly with the city’s desire to invest in a better Active Adult Center, a project that has been in the works since 2019, with the goal of increasing the amount of programming space available for classes, training and other events.
Since then, rising inflation and construction costs forced the city to scale back several features that were planned. However, the Oakland County Together grant has since restored those items, including a senior sensory garden and pavilion with outdoor seating, new computers and iPads, automatic toilet features such as an automatic flush and automatic hand wash, new and replacement exercise equipment, and new bollard entrance blockades to protect curbside services.
Roslyn Grafstein, the mayor of Madison Heights, said the project and grant shows a commitment to seniors by both the city and county.
“Our seniors are vital to our community, and we want to do whatever we can to help them stay connected and part of the community. That was a big part of why we initially started all of this,” Grafstein said. “In Madison Heights, we have residents who lived here before it was even a city, and I think with this grant, we’re able to move forward and restore many items that we wanted to do and had in our budget, but then there were logistical supply chain issues, labor shortages and inflation that scaled back some of our plans. Now, we can restore those. We’ve been working on this project for several years, and it’s been a very thoughtful process, with input from residents on what it offers.”
In Hazel Park, the amount awarded for the Oakland County Together grant was $200,000, which will be used to purchase a new HVAC system, new flooring, electrical and plumbing upgrades, and new doors compliant with the Americans with Disabilities Act.
The city of Hazel Park is also celebrating grants from Oakland County Parks and Recreation, including $400,000 for playground equipment and bathroom upgrades at Green Acres Park, and an additional $300,000 for other aspects of the Hazel Park Community Center, including new office space for OCPR where they can coordinate joint programming in the future.
“All projects greatly enhance the city’s ability to maintain quality facilities for its residents to enjoy,” said Sareen Papakhian, Hazel Park’s director of recreation, via email.
She said the grants are especially impactful for Hazel Park, and a boon to quality of life.
“The city is deeply grateful to the county and the Oakland County Board of Commissioners for their support of Hazel Park residents, and their faith in the city’s administration,” Papakhian said.
David Soltis, a member of the Madison Heights City Council, said the Active Adult Center has been a great support to the city’s older residents, and he’s pleased to see the support.
“The senior center is a great opportunity for socializing. They do traveling, lunches — all kinds of events,” Soltis said. “The coordinator, Jennifer Cowan, does a fantastic job filling up an itinerary of things to do. And they have other services too. I’ve helped out through them, delivering meals to seniors that are homebound. Fortunately, we don’t have a waiting list, and Meals on Wheels is still going strong.”
