Community Celebrates CARES Center Reopening

The old Elfers School on Barker Drive has been born anew as the CARES Elfers Center, and a crowd came to the historic campus on Friday, May 10 to celebrate. 

Lawmakers, local dignitaries, seniors and former students arrived on the grounds for the center's grand reopening ceremony. 

Run by Community Aging and Retirement Services, the CARES Elfers Center houses services for seniors. In its current expanded capacity, it also hosts a satellite branch of the New Port Richey Public Library called the Avery Branch.  

The red brick building located between Grand Boulevard and Madison Street was built in 1914 and served initially as an elementary school. The school closed its doors in 1965.

In 1979, CARES, which focuses on aiding seniors living independently, started using the building as a senior center.

In 2005, building decay forced CARES to face the prospect of having to evacuate the property. Stress was also displacing the walls, according to a Pasco County engineering study. 

The building was closed, and CARES moved its services to an annex facility on the property. An extensive renovation and building stabilization project that took years was undertaken. It cost about $2 million and tapped Community Development Block Grant Funding for work on the building. 

CARES also obtained funding from the federal Housing and Urban Development agency for the replacement of the annex facility. Congressman Gus Bilirakis helped obtain the HUD funding.

CARES reopened the school building again last month, eight years after it closed.

Bilirakis characterized the building renovation as a public-private partnership.

“This is really an example of the American Dream,” he said. “Because it’s an American project."

On Friday, CARES showed off the renovated center, hosting dancing demonstrations, artisans and activities.   

Retiring Pasco County Administrator John Gallagher was among the attendants. He lived in Elfers as a child, and his brother went to elementary school there.

He praised the end result of the extensive renovation.

“It ended up being a great building and a great thing for Elfers,” he said.     

You can visit the CARES Elfers Center at 4136 Barker Drive and call the center administration for more information at 727-847-1290. You can also visit its website to find out what services CARES offers.

What do you think about the effort to save the old school for a new use? Tell us by commenting below.