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HURST, Nov 08, 2009 (Fort Worth Star-Telegram - McClatchy-Tribune Information Services via COMTEX) -- After more than 20 years of traveling to the Bedford senior center, Hurst seniors have a place of their own within Heritage Village.

The Hurst Senior Activities Center will open Monday.

Hurst resident Mary Jo Cornelius, 81, said that she has enjoyed playing cards at the Bedford center for years but that having one in Hurst will make life easier.

"I think it is just going to be wonderful," she said. "The one in Bedford is great, but this one will be first-rate."

The $6.8 million, 27,500-square-foot facility on West Pipeline Road includes a kitchen, library, several activity rooms, a fitness room and a multipurpose room.

Members of the Hurst senior center board played a big role, said Marcy Davis, board chairwoman.

"We got to choose everything in it -- from the paint to the carpet," she said.

Davis, 73, said she is thrilled that the center is ready.

"Seniors can go there and finally have a place of their own," she said.

The senior center anchors Heritage Village, along with the $5.7 million Fire Station No. 2, which opened last fall. The development also features a 1-acre park and plaza.

Hurst residents approved the senior center and fire station as part of an $11.8 million bond package in 2005, which inspired the redevelopment initiative Transforming Hurst.

"We had bond funding for the senior center and for the fire station, so we decided if we were going to do these projects, what about trying to redevelop some of our older corridors in the process?" City Manager Allan Weegar said.

Weegar said the city saved about $2 million by converting the old Cavender's Boot City into the senior center.

"We have had some really good experiences with taking older buildings and redoing them," he said. "We had success with it at City Hall, so we decided to do it there."

Weegar added that Heritage Village will be the first project completed under Transforming Hurst.

He said city officials hope that the village will generate interest in the private-business sector to rehabilitate "some of the shopping centers and older areas in our community."

A developer is planning upscale senior apartments in Heritage Village.

The $11 million senior-living project would be ideal for active seniors wanting to downsize, said Ed Casebier, president of Renaissance Development Co.

"There are 97 units in the current plans," he said. "There will be one large apartment building with 87 units and then a series of five cottages that have two apartments in them."

Casebier added that the apartments would rent for about $1,300 a month.

"These won't be your run-of-the-mill apartments," he said.

Casebier said the complex would also feature an indoor pool.

"We worked out an agreement with the city so the members could have access to the pool and in return, all the residents will get memberships to the center," he said.

Casebier said construction is scheduled to begin in February.

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Adrian McCandless

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