Gibsonton seniors will have plenty of reasons to celebrate next month when they move into a new home at the Gardenville schoolhouse, an almost century-old building. The schoolhouse, given a $785,000 makeover, is set to serve as a hub for senior citizens and others in the area.
The Gardenville School, at 6215 Symmes Road, was built sometime before 1926, but no one is quite sure when. It was a center of learning for the area until 1961, when it closed down — only to be reincarnated as a community center. The building has sat vacant since 2005, when its programs moved to the Gardenville Recreation Center, a stone’s throw away.
Construction began last October on the 4,000-square-foot Gardenville schoolhouse that now boasts a new foundation, a new floor and newly reinforced walls and new roof trusses.
The Gibsonton Seniors Group, which includes 15 to 20 members, currently meets five days a week, Monday through Friday, from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. at Gibson Park
“We’re getting ready to move to the old schoolhouse next month,” said Jan Powell, an active member of the organization. “We should be in there by the end of August.”
It will be a welcome move for the group, Powell said. “It gives us some place to go for recreation. We get a lunch from the county, we make crafts and we just have fun. It keeps you active, keeps your mind busy. You don’t get depressed. You’re visiting with other seniors just like you are. It just keeps you going.”
The seniors will have more than one reason to celebrate. They won the prize for the best-decorated vehicle at last month’s Brandon July 4th parade. “It was our first time going into the Brandon parade, and we had no idea how everybody else was decorated,” Powell said. “We just wanted to be patriotic and we did the best we could.”
Club member Robert Mudry provided the truck for the parade.
“I enjoyed [the parade] tremendously,” Mudry said. “It essentially gives me an opportunity or an excuse to drive my truck.”
The truck took about an hour to decorate, sporting a red, white and blue motif. “We were pretty rushed when we got the truck on site at the staging area and rushed to get it decorated,” he said.
The refurbished building will also feature new restrooms for men and women and a major room in the center, along with a small kitchen, office and room that will be used for a senior nutrition program.
“For the senior nutrition program, they are in desperate need, and that will be a good thing,” said Jeanie Johnson, a founding member of the Concerned Citizens of Gibsonton. The Concerned Citizens were the driving force behind securing grant funding for the project.