With a population of around 22,000, nearly 13% of which are made up of residents over the age of 65 years, Gallup, New Mexico has a need for senior recreation services.
Now nearly $7.5 million in capital outlay funding has been approved by Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham for the planning, design, and construction of such a facility in the northwestern city.
That project is one of just over seventy earlier submitted to the New Mexico State Legislature by the New Mexico Aging and Long-Term Services Department, which was created nearly two decades ago and is tasked with providing programs for the state’s fastest-growing demographic.
Other big-ticket projects submitted to the legislature by Aging and Long-Term Services and subsequently approved by lawmakers and the Governor include $3 million allotted for renovations to the Palo Duro Senior Center of Albuquerque; and just over $1.6 million targeting upgrades to the Robert B. Munson Center in Las Cruces.
A similarly large outlay of around $1.3 million has been approved for work on the Fort Sumner Senior Center in the central eastern village of Fort Sumner.
Smaller capital outlay requests submitted by the Aging and Long-Term Services Department include just over $33,560 for renovations to the Grady Senior Center in the Village of Grady in eastern New Mexico; and $80,000 for renovations to the Bonnie Dallas Senior Center in Farmington.
By Garry Boulard