At the new transit and senior center in downtown Clovis, one thing mentioned multiple times during a tour of the unfinished buildings was space.
Having “enough space” and having “more space” for both employees as well as citizens of Clovis has become a rather large obstacle at their current homes.
With the new buildings, General Services Manager Amy Hance and Transit Supervisor Bethany Berube believe that the space afforded to them will be more than enough to suffice the growing numbers of traffic that go in and out of each building every day.
Describing the current transit center, Bethany Berube stated, “[Right now] We are in a tiny, tiny, tiny space, there’s a lot of us in a very small space.” With around 70 employees, she explained the move will help out their needs in this area.
The transit center, named the William H. “Harry” Armstrong Transit Center, named after 46 year council member Harry Armstrong, will now have enough space for constituents to meet with transit staff. This is important to Berube because at the current Transit Center, there is simply not enough room to have these sorts of meetings.
Berube also believes that with the extra room in the Transit Center, employees will be able to have a safe space to come and go as they please throughout the day. This is for employees such as drivers who are nearly never locked in at the center, but rather walk in and out on their way to their vehicles.
The William H. “Harry” Armstrong Transit Center will provide easy access for transit drivers as they will have their own entrance access when arriving to the area. Upon leaving from the center, drivers will exit through the same area as everyone else, yet will enter through their own alley so as to cut down on traffic.
The new senior center, named the Clovis Senior Activity Center – A Smittcamp Family Legacy, will house activities for seniors and once again creates a safe space for employees as well.
Once again employees were thought of first and asked their opinions on certain aspects of their jobs when building administrative offices. This was done in order to fulfill employees’ needs with which they believed they could better help the seniors who venture into their building.
But not only has the senior center afforded more space for their employees, a number of senior center activities will now also have separate rooms for their interests.
This includes but is not limited to a new pool hall, an art room or a room specifically designed for artistic ventures, and a three way split multi-purpose hall where activities such as zumba, bingo, or dance lessons can be held at separate or the same times.
The Clovis Senior Activity Center- A Smittcamp Family Legacy will also have a hall located towards the west end of the building that can hold up to 450 people.
The hall can be rented out for separate events such as weddings, or receptions as well. For any and all senior center activities, there will be available space just outside of this reception hall that can open up to the outside for seniors to embark in art classes or further activities.
In addition to a few select benefactors and the Smittcamp Family, donations for the Senior Center were made by the two Kiwanis Clubs of Clovis, PG&E, and St. Agnes who will have their own wing at the senior center. It is unknown what St. Agnes will officially use the 4000 square foot space for as of yet.
The current Clovis Senior Center, which had its 40th anniversary last Friday, has been in need of either renovation or new construction, and like the Transit Center, it took the latter.
The thought behind completing both at the same time was to create a space that could house both for public use by Clovis residents all the while being in one area. With this new location, the City of Clovis has done just that.