Plans for a new Powell Senior Center suffered a setback on Friday, as state officials declined to provide any funding for the $6.32 million project. However, proponents of the project are continuing their efforts to make the new facility a reality.

“We just can’t give up,” Powell Senior Center Director Linda Dalton said Tuesday. “It’s too important for this community.”

Although they turned down the $4 million request — concluding that new senior centers aren’t eligible for the federal dollars in question — the members of the State Loan and Investment Board (SLIB) said they aren’t giving up, either. The five statewide officials assured representatives from centers in Powell, Afton and Sheridan that they understand the importance of having quality facilities for the state’s seniors and said they’ll look for other ways to provide funding.

“I think it’s clear we’re trying to figure out how to get to yes on this,” Gov. Mark Gordon said during the discussion.

Having outgrown its deteriorating 5,800 square foot facility on North Gilbert Street, the Powell Senior Center intends to build an expanded 8,725 square foot building near the Rocky Mountain Manor. More than $2.4 million has been raised so far — and the hope was that a $4 million grant from the state’s Health and Human Services Capital Construction Program would finish off the campaign.

The SLIB tabled the Powell center’s application in December, citing serious concerns about whether the project was eligible for the dollars. However, the board didn’t reject the request and the Legislature added more funds to the capital construction program during its recent session.

“... That was a signal that we still had a shot,” said Ronn Smith, who’s been helping to raise funds for the new facility.

The state dollars flow from the federal American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) and must be used for projects that are “a direct and proportionate response to COVID-19 or its negative economic impacts.”

At Friday’s meeting, Dalton listed the ways the center helped seniors through the pandemic — delivering meals, groceries, medications and even word puzzles, chatting with seniors by phone and answering their many questions about Covid.

“Senior centers are so overlooked,” Dalton said. “We’re actually the first line of defense in medical and mental health for our clients.”

Demand for the nonprofit’s services has also swelled due to a growing senior population and “pandemic-induced inflation,” she said; inflation has also impacted the new building, nearly doubling its cost in recent years.

However, the U.S. Treasury’s January 2022 guidance specifically frowns on building new “congregate facilities.” The department says new buildings “would generally not be a proportionate response to mitigate or prevent COVID-19,” because other options — like adding personal protective equipment or renovating — are cheaper and more effective.

“It’s clear in the treasury guidance that we cannot fund senior centers,” State Budget Department Director Kevin Hibbard said at Friday’s meeting. He called the projects a “nonstarter” under the federal guidelines.

That state officials waited months to make that position clear frustrated some of the Powell Senior Center’s backers.

“Very disappointing to be coming down here [to Cheyenne] and hearing this,” state Sen. Dan Laursen (R-Powell) said during the public comment period. “[I] drove a long ways. I wish we would have heard this sooner.”

Laursen reiterated the need for the new center and argued that it and others could fit under the rules.

“These are vitally needed and I think we need to work as hard as we can to figure it out,” he said.

Gordon agreed and said the board was trying to navigate the rules as best it could.

“These are the hardest,” State Auditor Kristi Racines added as the board considered the applications from the Powell, Afton and Sheridan senior centers, “because we all know that we need them the most.”

For his part, State Treasurer Curt Meier expressed frustration about the restrictions on the dollars. He said the federal government is “just wrong” to not consider senior centers to be a part of the health care system that responded to the pandemic.

Meier also argued that several other projects the board approved for ARPA funding were themselves “on quaky ground,” arguing there was a tenuous connection between a new medical office building and Covid. 

State staff said senior centers could tap into other pools of funding. Hibbard said there’s money available for programming — such as to cover the cost of meals — and that the state would make a “hardcore” effort to help centers qualify; another option would be to apply for funding from a $15 million pool set aside for local government projects.

“If we want to look at these — and I certainly think senior citizen centers are absolutely essential — we may want to try to figure out a better way to approach these,” Gordon offered about the centers, suggesting the board take some time to consider its options.

Staff also noted the Wyoming Legislature could allocate funding specifically for senior centers during its early 2024 Budget Session.

Powell Senior Center boosters are encouraged by the fact that state officials recognize the need for the new facility, Smith said.

“We’re hoping that down the road, that the state might find other sources of funding,” he said Monday.

In the meantime, the fundraising effort continues.

“What we really need are people who, you know, for whatever reason, had to sell their house and now they’re stuck with these capital gains,” Dalton said.

“They could just donate it to us and … problem solved,” she said with a laugh.

Some of the $2.32 million that’s been raised so far — including a $1 million pledge from the Park County Commission — are contingent on all $6.32 million being raised, which adds urgency to the effort.

Anyone interested in donating any amount can contact the Powell Senior Center at 307-754-4223.