Formal presentation of grant money to Marshall County for Senior Center

A formal presentation of grant money to be used for the renovation and reopening of the Marshall County Senior Citizens Center was made on Wednesday in Benton.

Former State Representative and current Senior Advisor to Governor Andy Beshear, Rocky Adkins, made the presentation to Judge-Executive Kevin Spraggs. The Marshall County Fiscal Court is receiving $850,000 toward the renovation and reopening of the center, which has been closed for about four years. The announcement of the funding came earlier in February while Spraggs was in Frankfort for the legislative session.

Adkins said that for a lot of areas across Kentucky, the two places that are key to that sense of community are the schools and senior centers. Adkins called them, “The heart and soul of where folks that have lived here all of their lives, or a good part of their lives, can come everyday, like you have here, today, and socialize and play games and be with each other.”  

The presentation took place at the Joe Creason Community Building at H.H. Lovett Park in Benton during a regular bingo and lunch gathering of the seniors. Adkins said he and the governor felt it was important to the community to make a presentation in person. He acknowledged the work of the Senior Citizens Center board, along with the Purchase Area Development District, which completed the grant-writing process on behalf of the county.  

The money is part of a $3.4 million package of Community Development Block Grant projects across the state.