THE non-profit Hastings Court aged residents boarding house, next to the Showground, is expanding for the first time since it opened in 1968.
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The 22-unit centre is about to add two new self-contained one-bedroom units at the rear of the existing building, which will be suitable for couples.
The Hastings Senior Citizens Home Inc committee which runs the residential centre is funding construction of the new units from the sale of a surplus block of land.
Local tradesmen and suppliers are being used wherever possible, with the preliminary work by electrician Neil Hudson and plumber Clayworth and Cross now completed and construction by Timbertown Homes about to start.
Planning, approvals and preparatory work on the 101 High Street, Wauchope, site have taken almost two years, and it is hoped to have the new units completed by about March 2015.
The new building consists of two one-bedroom self-contained units, including kitchen, laundry, bathroom and open lounge-dining area.
The existing units are smaller and residents share a communal laundry.
If and when funding becomes available the centre's managing committee plans to add a total of eight new self-contained units to those already in place as low-cost boarding house accommodation for aged pensioners who do not have a home of their own. Hastings Court is independently run by volunteers, and was originally built by volunteers on land that is now owned by Port Macquarie-Hastings Council.
Committee chairman Ted Bricknell and his wife June are heavily involved in the centre's management and are looking forward to the additional capacity.
Hastings Court residents must be able to look after themselves, they say, emphasising that it is a boarding house, not a nursing home.
However the centre has a dining room which serves up a two-course hot meal five days a week, and cleaners do the kitchens and bathrooms once a week.
While the new building will not be ready for occupation until 2015, one double unit is currently vacant. These units have their own kitchen and bathroom, but items such as bedding, TV and lounge furniture are installed by the residents.
Prospective residents must fill in an application form and be interviewed by committee members before being considered for the centre.
More information is available from committee chairman Ted Bricknell on 6585 2227.
