Livonia lauds new $29 million senior wellness center; council asks administration for demolition-cost report on old buildings

The Livonia City Council and mayor highlighted the opening of a new Livonia Senior Wellness Center at Tuesday's meeting and voted unanimously to request an administrative report on demolishing two older municipal buildings.

Mayor said the 30,000-square-foot facility is a community-driven project and described it as a $29,000,000 project that was assembled without asking residents for additional taxes. He listed key funding sources, noting contributions and allocations from the county and state plus federal and local American Rescue Plan funds: "we looked at capturing $8,000,000 from the county, $4,500,000 from the state..., $1,500,000 from Congresswoman Talib, $3,000,000 from Congresswoman Haley Stevens," and additional city ARPA funding.

Mayor said the facility is free for seniors to use for most programming and recorded strong community turnout at the open house, with more than 1,000 seniors visiting the new space. He described design features tailored to seniors' needs and praised senior-center staff and parks-and-recreation leadership.

Separately, Council member Donovic moved that the administration prepare a report and recommendation on demolition of the old Livonia Civic Park Senior Center and the old courthouse, including cost estimates and potential funding sources; the council voted 7-0 to send that request to staff. The administration will collect options and return with a report that may recommend proceeding or retaining the buildings.

Council members said they expect the administration to return with cost estimates and funding recommendations at a future meeting before any demolition decisions are made.