Life Project Update
Greetings from Logan! Many people have been asking whether the COVID 19 pandemic has altered the plans for moving forward with this intergenerational project. The short answer is “no!” If anything, the isolation imposed on our elderly residents in the Logan Manor during this shutdown has demonstrated more than ever how critically important it is to have ongoing interaction between those residents and the little tikes who were used to visiting their “grandpa” or “grandma.” In any future pandemic, or even ordinary flu season, the design of the new facility would actually provide more flexibility to the nursing home staff to isolate our most vulnerable residents due to the three separate pods housing twelve residents each. If school is in session, the facility is designed to have lockdown barriers so that these groups can easily be quarantined from one another. Having said that, the daycare children would still be within close proximity to carry on certain activities such as the window games and other outdoor activities that proved to be such morale boosters for the elderly residents recently confined to their rooms. Those types of activities and interactions could happen daily, rather than the more infrequent visitations presently caused by the distance between the current facilities Suffice it to say that the LIFE Project is still moving forward at full steam!
The most significant impact of the COVID 19 shutdown was that it ground to a halt the local fundraising efforts that were just about to go into full swing. Most significantly, the Logan Alumni Banquet was cancelled. That event was planned to reach some of our most important potential donors. Despite these headwinds, the fundraising committee did complete a mass mailing of 1200 information packets to every known alumni. The results of that effort have been showing up in the form of regular donations trickling in. To date, there is a total cash balance in the fundraising account of $301,646, with an additional $69,600 pledged by donors to be made in periodic payments over the next 3 to 5 years.
During the shutdown, the design meetings with the architects and construction managers continued via ZOOM. While no substitute for in-person meetings, the ZOOM meeting format still allowed for much progress to be made in finalizing the schematics. We are now very close to beginning the construction document phase. The goal of this upcoming phase of the design process is to have sufficient details of the structure and its systems to invite bids from local contractors. Those bids then allow for finalizing a Guaranteed Maximum Price for the Project. As this process has progressed, it has become evident that the total cost of the Project is going to be close to $15.5 million, which is slightly more than originally anticipated. However, every effort is being made to find cost-savings while keeping the Project as efficient and functional as possible.
Prior to the COVID 19 pandemic, the plan was to aggressively tackle the local fundraising goal of $1.25 million before reaching out to the bigger national and regional foundations. Given the delays and setbacks at the local level, the fundraising committee is moving forward with those grant requests to every conceivable foundation or corporate sponsor, while simultaneously continuing the local fundraising goal. To learn more, make a contribution, or see plans please visit the new LIFE Center Website at www.loganlifecenter.com. The volunteers have requested that sizable contributions be made by check to avoid the credit card fees associated with online contributions. You can send checks made out to LCDF-LIFE to LIFE Center Project ℅ LCDF, P.O. Box 203, Logan, KS 67646, or call Max Lowry, President of Logan Community Development Foundation, Inc, (LCDF) at (785) 689-8333 to schedule a pick-up.