The Hill N’ Park Senior Center, which originally broke ground on August 1, 2023, officially opened with a dedication ceremony and ribbon cutting at its location — 4205 Yosemite Drive in Greeley — on Tuesday, May 7.
Hill N’ Park is a subdivision in unincorporated Weld County, established from 1966 to 1973, and it has long needed access to additional community amenities and services. The previous senior center showed signs of severe distress, and when Weld County’s Area Agency on Aging (AAA) was awarded a grant to demolish and replace it, AAA brought in Greeley-Weld Habitat for Humanity as a partner in managing the construction of the new senior center, with Roche Constructors awarded the contract to complete the build.
In addition to numerous Hill N’ Park residents attending the dedication ceremony, Weld County Commissioners Mike Freeman, Scott James, Perry Buck, and Lori Saine were on hand, with Commissioner James speaking about the pride they all felt seeing the completed project. CEO of Greeley-Weld Habitat for Humanity, Cheri Witt-Brown, representatives from Roche Constructors, Grant Manager for the State Unit on Aging, Gillian Winbourn, Community Outreach Manager for Weld County AAA, Meredith Skoglund, and Hill N’ Park Senior Center President, Flo Jean Whitehead also spoke.
“Less than a year ago we all stood outside for this groundbreaking with that old 1974 mobile home sitting behind us,” Skoglund said. “Now look at where we are. To the Hill N’ Park Senior Center board, thank you. We did it.”
Features of the new 2,800 square foot center include a full commercial kitchen which serves as a meal site for the AAA Friendly Fork Program, a large common area with dining tables and chairs, an activity room, a multi-purpose room, and a library. Roche’s scope of work also included site development and a new parking lot. The surrounding area was taken into consideration as well, as the original plans for the building were also altered slightly to avoid having to cut down one of the large evergreen trees beside the center.
“This is a dream come true,” Whitehead said. “It’s hard to truly realize how much work has gone into this. This has been a great gift to us, and we can’t tell you how much we appreciate it.”
For more information on Weld County’s offerings through AAA, visit https://www.weld.gov/Government/Departments/Human-Services/Home-and-Community-Supports-Division/Area-Agency-on-Aging-AAA.
