Employees and clients of the Olds Association for Community Living (OACL) should be back in a fully renovated building by the end of April, according to Rick Astle, president of the local organization.
Plans for the renovations have been in the works since the hail damage that occurred to the building in the spring of 2017, he said during an interview with the Albertan.
“We decided to pursue the idea of completely renovating since we had to do some work on the front end anyways, so let’s redesign it and hopefully it will be essentially more functional for us,” said Astle.
Construction got underway in late November.
He said the facility will have a more convenient layout.
“We’ve completely redesigned the office structure to assist with the flow of people throughout the office and created some new office space.”
The main floor has been gutted and will have a redesigned interior with room for gathering spaces but the physical space of the building will remain the same.
The most significant changes will be wider doors (a minimum of 36 inches), automatic doors at the front and easier access for people with mobility issues via a ramp.
When it's completed, the entrance will be on the east side of the front of the building instead of the middle.
The contractor working on the building is Brian Gardner of Brian Gardner Custom Homes.
Astle declined to provide even an estimated cost of the project.
“It’s all coming out of our own resources,” said Astle when asked if there was any financial assistance from the province.
He said there is no issue with covering the cost of renovations as the association earns money from several buildings it owns.
As for when the building will be operational again Astle doesn’t expect that to happen until late April. The association is currently working out of Perry Appraisals Associates Ltd.
“I have told the board that I anticipate that by the end of April we’ll be back into the building," Astle said.
“Our contractor is hopeful it’ll be sooner than that but I’m leaving it at the end of April and I told the contractor if you get us in earlier then you look great,” Astle said with a laugh.
