After a $176,000 month-long remodel fully funded by a federal grant, Vashon’s senior center is open and will hold a grand re-opening ceremony on Friday.

The center will be open from 1 to 8 p.m., and a ceremony with government representatives will be at 2:30 p.m. Cake and coffee will be served.

“It was a lot of work, and almost all of it was done with island businesses and materials,” center director Ava Apple said.

She said that of the $146,000 allocated for construction costs, $126,000 of it stayed on the island with RO Enterprises doing the contracting and construction work and the new floor being purchased on-island.

The remodel lasted almost exactly a month and focused mostly on safety, accessibility and efficiency projects such as updating bathrooms and counters to be more accessible to wheelchair-bound seniors and adding cabinets for storage space.

The center’s computers that are used for the senior technology classes used to sit on a plastic table that was dangerous, Apple said. They now sit on an accessible counter that is much more solid.

The old linoleum flooring throughout the building that Apple estimates was from the 1940s was also replaced with vinyl that looks like wood.

“This has been a facelift that was way overdue,” Apple said. “Safety-wise we had a lot of upgrades and fixes to do. It makes me feel proud to go to work.”

The revamp was funded through the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD) Community Development Block Grant. The grant funds are distributed through King County annually to help communities provide decent housing and a suitable living environment especially for people of low and moderate income.

Apple wrote the grant application for the funds last May and was awarded the grant this year.

“There has been so much paperwork,” she said. “It’s federal money being distributed by the county so you can imagine the amount of paper involved.”

She said she has been dreaming of what to do to the space since she became the center’s director nearly four years ago.

The center underwent a kitchen remodel almost two years ago and serves low-cost lunches four days a week as well as offers programs for island seniors. But the center is facing budget shortfalls due to United Way of King County pulling their funding. Apple would have been $15,000 short this year if not for a grant from Granny’s Attic awarded this month that fully funds that shortfall.

She is expecting a $30,000 shortfall next year because of the United Way decision.