New Enrichment Centers of Hernando County facility is unveiled

BROOKSVILLE

Not everything was quite up to par. The elevator wasn't working because state inspectors had yet to certify the paperwork. There were a few holes in the walls that still needed to be patched. And organizers hoped that visitors might overlook the last-minute scramble to complete some outside landscaping.

Still, Debbie Walker-Druzbick, executive director of Enrichment Centers of Hernando County, was eager to show off the agency's crowning achievement, located on the grounds of the Quarry Golf Course in Brooksville.

"We've come a long way in a very short time," Druzbick told visitors Wednesday at the grand opening of the Hernando County Mining Association Enrichment Center. "This place is going to be a huge success."

More than a dozen years in the making, the center, which is housed in a 96-year-old concrete and steel limerock crushing structure left over from the county's early mining industry, will serve several needs.

As the east Hernando County home for the Enrichment Centers, the facility will serve as a permanent home for senior citizens' activities such as support groups, wellness programs, exercise classes and a Meals on Wheels program. In the event of a hurricane, it will also serve as a special needs shelter for residents with medical concerns, capable of withstanding Category 4 (131-155 mph) winds.

In addition, the two-story facility will serve as the base for the Brooksville Parks and Recreation Department's Quarry Golf Course operation and will house a pro shop, parks administration and golf cart storage. An area on the second floor will house a long-planned museum for the region's mining industry.

"It's going to be a busy place and a hub for the entire community," city Parks and Recreation Director Mike Walker said.

The County Commission established the Enrichment Centers Inc. of Hernando County 26 years ago after determining that senior needs were a top priority in the community. For 10 years, the program was run in partnership with Oak Hill Hospital until the agency decided earlier this year to accept a renewed partnership with Spring Hill Regional and Brooksville Regional hospitals.

But according to Druzbick, the program lacked a permanent facility where it could put in place and manage a special needs shelter capable of withstanding hurricane winds.

A 40-year lease reached with the city of Brooksville in 2009 will assure that. Built with a combination of grants, including $600,000 in state money plus $100,000 from a county senior services grant, the center will feature a full-service a kitchen, a generator with an 11,000-gallon fuel tank, plus an 8,000-gallon water tank, capable of supporting up to 180 people for three days.

Enrichment Centers president Nick Morana said the 10,000-square-foot center not only will allow the group, which has operated in Brooksville most recently at the Jerome Brown Community Center and at Brooksville Regional Hospital, to have a permanent home, but also give it an opportunity to expand services for its clients.

"We're a growing community," Morana said. "This center will serve those needs adequately for many years to come."

Logan Neill can be reached at (352) 848-1435 or lneill@sptimes.com.