GOLDEN CIRCLE SENIOR CENTER

The Golden Circle Senior Wellness Center provides a gathering place for seniors in Harrisburg, Illinois. They serve daily lunch for 80 in their dining room, and prepare an additional 120 daily “meals on wheels” lunches. Activities for seniors include quilting, billiards, monthly seminars, and exercise classes. The center is typically open from 9-4 Monday through Friday.

HARRISBURG TORNADO

On February 29th, 2012, an early morning tornado killed seven residents of Harrisburg, Illinois, and destroyed 143 homes and several businesses. Preliminarily listed by the National Weather Service as an FE4, the tornado had wind speeds topping at 180 mph.

The Golden Circle Senior Wellness Center was one of those structures lost, including records, photos of local veterans, and both pool tables. During the past several months, Golden Circle has temporarily moved their operations to the Dorrisville Baptist Church while they arrange funding to rebuild.

CHARRETTE

On August 11, 2012, volunteers from Architecture for Humanity Chicago met with George Cain, the architect of record for the Golden Circle Senior Center reconstruction, and four representatives from Golden Circle: Marie Reynolds, Otis Reynolds, Ken Howton, and Darlene Goolsby. The purpose of the charrette and AFHC’s involvement was to document the vision for the new Golden Circle Senior Wellness Center through renderings and diagrams. The final project deliverable, a visioning booklet, contains the results of that meeting.

This booklet will also be handed over to George Cain, AIA, of Crawford, Murphy, and Tilly, the architect of record, to be used as a reference of the charrette and discussions with Golden Circle during his creation of construction documents.

Location