AMHERST — New sprinkler and fire alarm systems, upgraded heating, ventilation and air conditioning, and accessibility enhancements are among $2.8 million in improvements planned for the Bangs Community Center — upgrades that fall short of addressing calls from members of the Council on Aging and senior residents to improve Senior Center facilities and immediately provide more space for activities.

The Town Council was presented on Monday with an overview of the work on the 37,000-square-foot building that could start this summer, along with a review by the Finance Committee in advance of a possible vote on the spending March 24. Plans for new Senior Center restrooms, an expanded conference room, a wellness and nurse’s office, and fitness space are likely to be pushed off to the future.

Town Manager Paul Bockelman told councilors the work that would get underway should be seen as the first phase of meeting the needs of senior services and the town’s climate action goals.

“I think it’s a project that if we were to delay it, prices would go up, and it would just delay everything that we are hoping to accomplish,” Bockelman said.

But the scope of the project has been scaled back, with the main focus being on how to address required health and safety code upgrades to the building, which hasn’t seen a significant overhaul in 35 years, and will make the building more comfortable for those who use it. Bockelman said it also sets the stage for providing senior citizens additional space later.

Though the town will fund the project using free cash, the $2.8 million originated as federal American Rescue Plan Act money. Town officials strategized to preserve the money in anticipation of possible changes by a new federal administration, turning it into what is known as revenue replacement, Bockelman said.

“This would secure those funds and not make them vulnerable to any kinds of clawback activity by the federal government,” Bockelman said.

Those set-aside funds will move to free cash as of July 1.

Building Commissioner Rob Morra explained that in addition to housing the town’s Senior Center, the Bangs building, originally constructed as a school, includes the Musante Health Center; a room dedicated to the town’s Civil War tablets and an associated exhibit; and the offices for the Health Department, the Community Responders for Equity, Safety and Service, and the Diversity, Equity and Inclusion department.

For 35 years, Morra said the building has not had major systems upgrades. The town spent $335,000 from ARPA money to contract with EDM Studio Architecture of Farmington, Connecticut, to handle designs for the necessary work, as well as complete a space needs study.

“This project is now ready to go to bid,” Morra said. If a contractor is found, it should be complete in the summer of 2026, making a much improved building.

Should bids come in low, there are also several add-ons that might be considered, including an expanded restroom that would be located near the Large Activity Room; moving the nurse’s office to the main floor near Room 101; and creating a fitness center.

A memo from Bockelman explains the challenges of doing more than this: “It should be noted that reallocating space within the Bangs Community Center has raised significant concerns regarding the function of the various departments that would need to share space in the building, and further consultation and consideration is needed before plans are finalized.”

Morra said future projects can be done from conceptual layouts to do a total kitchen renovation, reconfigure and expand the Senior Center, add more storage space and install better signs.

“This project does not modify the Senior Center space or expand it,” Morra said. “It gives us the opportunity to look at doing that.”

Until the Civil War tablets find a new home, possibly at the expanded and renovated Jones Library, the tweaks will be small, like setting up exercise equipment now that there will be better ventilation, and a partial upgrade to the kitchen.

Bockelman said significant discussion is still to come on whether a commercial kitchen should be part of future work.

Scott Merzbach can be reached at smerzbach@gazettenet.com.