Apalachicola awarded Senior Center Grant

The City of Apalachicola is the proud recipient of a $1,500,000 Senior Citizen Center Capital Outlay grant from the Florida Department of Elder Affairs. Governor Charlie Crist and Secretary of the Department of Elder Affairs Dr. Doug Beach announced the award at a groundbreaking ceremony in Miami Friday, November 21.

The 2008 Florida Legislature appropriated $10,000,000 for statewide use with State Representative Will S. Kendrick securing $1,500,000 out of the pot for the City of Apalachicola.

The funds will go toward the renovation of the Historic Holy Family School located on Dr. Fredrick Humphries Street for a dedicated center where seniors can congregate without interruptions.

The City Commission first gave staff the go ahead to apply for funding in late November 2007. However, at that time the State awarded the grant to several South Florida communities. On July 8, the commission again gave staff the nod to reapply and with the help of Kendrick, the City submitted a successful application.

Other Florida communities awarded the Category 3 grant were the City of Gainesville, which received $2 Million and Miami-Dade County, which also received $2 Million.