Cedar Park senior center remains closed months after winter storm

Senior center in Cedar Park continues repairs from winter storm damage

Treasure of the Hills Senior Center to receive up to $100,000 from Cedar Park City Council to repair the damage caused by the winter storm in February.

AUSTIN, Texas - The rain that fell Tuesday on the Treasure of the Hills Senior Center, for Dennis Domanski, was a familiar sound and the rain was also a reminder of the damage inside from a water line break.

"It was devastating," said Domanski who is president of the senior center in Cedar Park.

When he got a look inside, floors were flooded, walls soaked. Much of the furniture and electronics were no longer usable. "And my heart just dropped," said Domanski.

The winter storm in February caused the break. The freeze happened just before the center was about to re-open as it was closed for a year because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

ERCOT public records from the winter storm will not be shared

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton rules that Texas Public Information Act does not apply to ERCOT. Therefore, text messages, e-mails, and recorded phone calls about the deadly storm will not be released.

"It’s been hard on the seniors because a lot of them have lost their spouses, and they look for the camaraderie of being with other seniors, playing games, having something to do and take up some time in the day where they can enjoy laugh and have some fun," said Domanski.

The building is owned by the city of Cedar Park. The repair cost is estimated at $84,000. Insurance is expected to cover a little more than half. The City Council authorized up to $100,000 for the repair work. The extra money is to help cover any hidden damage that may be found. The city brought in a big dumpster and started ripping out all of the soggy sheetrock. That minimized a big mold problem.

A contractor who has worked on other city projects was brought in. But what seemed to be on the fast track, quickly got bogged down in paperwork. In late May the city council was briefed on the hold up.

"It took a while for us to get a response, from our insurance carrier, I believe they went through three different adjusters to get a report," said Randy Lueders with the CP Engineering Department during the briefing.

Taylor City Hall continues to be repaired months after winter storms

The devastation of the harsh winter storms in February is still felt in the City of Taylor four months later. FOX 7 Austin's Steven Sarabia has details.

The city eventually had some luck. The contractor despite a national supply shortage was able to get building materials and apparently didn’t have trouble hiring labor.

"It’s going to be better than ever and we are very excited about it, looking at a mid-August timeline, hopefully before then but definitely sometime during August," said Jennie Huerta with the city of Cedar Park.

Getting back in may be more than a month away, but Domanski recognizes there are many others hit by the storm that have an even longer wait. "I take it in stride, there is always going to be another rainbow, and another bright day," said Domanski.

Until the reopening, one problem remains. "We've haven't been successful in finding an alternate location," said Domanski.

As a result of the slow process and pace, some Cedar Park seniors are traveling to locations out of town while others have been invited to use meeting rooms in a few local retirement communities.

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