Supervisor Kathryn Barger presented a check Monday on behalf of Los Angeles County to SCV Senior Center officials in the amount of $500,000.

Barger, who represents Santa Clarita as part of the 5th district, awarded the grant to the center as a way to “jumpstart” their efforts to raise funds for the new location.

“It was a complete surprise,” said Barger. “My office found out we were able to set aside $500,000, and we wanted to tell them in person.”

The journey for Barger and the SCV Senior Center started before she was even elected office, when she was serving as deputy director for former Supervisor Michael Antonovich.

“I am looking at something that I started as a staffer, and I have watched grow,” she said. “To see it coming to fruition — it is fantastic.”

Barger toured the construction site, along with SCV Senior Center Executive Director Kevin MacDonald and Board President Peggy Rasmussen.

See Related: SCV Senior Center: Growing Into The Future (VIDEO)

MacDonald and Rasmussen showed off the amenities for the new facility, including a dance studio, fitness center, outdoor cabana with an amphitheater and more.

“We have a center here that is really going to be holistic,” Barger said. “They will always be looking to reinvent themselves, and really address the needs of seniors in the Santa Clarita Valley.”

The new Santa Clarita Senior Center was funded by a number of private and public donors, including initial grants from both the County of Los Angeles and the City of Santa Clarita, with each donating $3 million. And on top of the original grant, the city council approved an additional $500,000 in 2017.

“It is three pieces coming together,” said McDonald. “The County, the City and our community partners; we cannot do it without them.”

The brand new, 30,000-square-foot, two-story center will be centrally located at Golden Valley Road and Newhall Ranch Road on 2.5 acres of newly-developed land.

“A group of people got together and said, ‘We’re growing out of the current senior center,’” said MacDonald. “It’s a county-owned building, and we’ve loved it for many years, but we need to grow.”

See Related: Santa Clarita Senior Center Holds Groundbreaking

The new Santa Clarita Senior Center plans to continue providing existing programs, such as home-delivered meals, caregiver education and support, case management, information and referrals and the culinary arts center.

But despite these donations, the new center is still shy of the funds it needs to operate.

For more information on the new SCV Senior Center, or to donate, click here.

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