MOOSE JAW — Starting on Aug. 19, the Timothy Eaton Gardens, home of the Moose Jaw and District Senior Citizen’s Association (MJDSCA), announced a temporary closure with the venue focused on adults over the age of 55 set to reopen its doors on Tuesday, Sept. 3.
The reason for this closure is to allow some time for a few renovations that include the floor of the XYZ Auditorium, some painting, and a few bathroom upgrades as well.
“We are replacing the floor (in the XYZ Auditorium),” explained Tanya Legare, administrator of the MJDSCA. “That floor is 30-some-years-old. From my understanding, (we’ve) been wanting to get that floor done for a few years now.”
The XYZ Auditorium serves a pivotal role for the MJDSCA as it strives to provide a venue to serve its mission of keeping Moose Jaw’s adults over the age of 55 healthy and active. The space has been used for programs that range from quilting shows to concerts to the ever popular pickleball matches held eight times a week at the location.
These renovations are made possible thanks to a $25,000 New Horizons grant that the senior’s centre applied to and received approval for this year. The New Horizons for Seniors Program is a federally funded initiative intended to fund projects that help improve the lives of seniors by offering up to $25,000 to promote volunteerism, senior inclusion and engagement, and to assist with new and existing senior-focused programs.
As the floor didn’t require the full $25,000 to complete, Legare said the difference was spent on further improvements to the popular 55-plus venue.
“We had a few bucks left over, so we got paint,” Legare explained. “So, we painted the walls… (added) new baseboards, (and)… We’ve painted the front of the stage to match the walls.”
Although there’s no budget to add upgraded sound, light, or other equipment to the space, Legare did point out that the pickleball court will now be expanded to a regulation size enabling more sporting options at the centre. Previously, she said, it was around one foot shy of regulation size.
These renovations are complemented by the Moose Jaw Non-Profit Housing Corporation, who themselves received a grant this year and are now improving two upstairs bathrooms and upgrading one in the basement at the Timothy Eaton Gardens. The basement bathroom, which was previously accessed by steps, will now be at ground level and more accessible for everyone.
Once the auditorium and bathrooms have been completed, the association will focus on upgrading the onsite kitchen next. No timeframe has been given for this next phase as the focus remains on the current project for now.
“We’re going to look into grants and see what kind of (funding) we can get for the kitchen, and any money that we get (through) fundraising will most likely all go to the kitchen,” Legare said.
The association’s cook, Tina, has requested a new floor as the first consideration for the kitchen project, but for now it’s one project at a time and everyone is eager to resume operations as per normal.
“We’re just excited to see everybody (return on) Sept. 3,” Legare announced. “It’s just not the same around here without seeing everybody and we can’t wait to see them again.”
The MJDSCA operates out of the Timothy Eaton Gardens building located at 510 Main Street North. For any questions during its ongoing renovations, the front desk can be reached at 306-694-4223 or you can visit MooseJawSeniors.ca.
