With final repair construction work started on Monday, the Wallowa Community Center is expected to reopen around the first of April after being closed because of extensive water damage since early December.

Some good will come out of the damage caused by a defective sprinkler system, according to volunteer caretaker Joe Town, who successfully applied for a grant that will provide upgrades to the center beyond what the center’s insurance center will pay.

Town applied for a grant on behalf of the Wallowa Senior Center Advisory Group to Oregon Community Foundation.

“What I did was explain the importance of the center to the community, the amount of damages and upgrades that wouldn’t be covered,” Town said.

A grant of $6,000 was awarded to the project from the Taylor and Alice Alexander Endowment Fund II; Town said that the Alexanders formerly resided in Wallowa County and that Alice Alexander is still alive, living in the Portland area.

The improvements, including better flooring, remodeling to improve kitchen access and four more-accessible bathroom fixtures, added $11,300 more to the $63,338 bid awarded by the City of Wallowa to contractor Mike Becker of Union to repair the center. “We’re getting a lot for that amount,” Town said. One feature he’s especially enthusiastic about is an improved type of flooring – a seamless, inlaid linoleum called marnoleum – which “you don’t have to wax” and requires less maintenance than regular linoleum. Town has personally waxed the center floor since the facility opened in 1995.

The upgrades include the installation of three new toilets with higher seats and a higher urinal, which will make the bathrooms much more accessible to elderly and handicapped persons, Town said.

Town said the difference between the cost of the upgrades and the grant has been covered by fund raising, donations and money provided by the advisory group, which assists Community Connection operate the city-owned facility.

The center has been the hub of community activities in Wallowa for 11 years and is greatly missed by city residents, according to the caretaker. “People are always asking ‘When? When? When? … We’re going to hold a big open house when it’s done, probably around the first of April,” Town said.

Wallowa area seniors have been meeting at the IOOF building at the east edge of Wallowa for the three-times-a-week senior meal since the center shut down three months ago.

Damage expenses, covered by insurance, include $35,000 to Busy Bee Carpet for drying and cleanup, $5,460 to Wellens Farwell Construction to take out the old floor and put in an underfloor and $63,338 to Becker, adding up to $98,884 in damage and repair costs, not counting the upgrades.