HERMISTON — Eight years after it opened, a key feature of the Harkenrider Senior Activity Center had its debut.

The facility’s 2,800-square-foot basement was celebrated with a ribbon-cutting ceremony Thursday, Feb. 13. Hermiston Mayor Doug Primmer said he was impressed with the basement, which was left unfinished when the center opened in September 2018.

“It’s a real user-friendly space,” Primmer said. “Its functionality is very high. There are so many different things it can be used for, rather than it being just a room with a table and some chairs. I’m pleased with the way it turned out.”

The basement includes men’s and women’s restrooms, two refrigerators, a storage room and can be accessed via stairs or an elevator.

Hermiston City Manager Byron Smith said the renovation to the basement cost the city $650,000. He said the public will be able to rent the basement for events or meetings.

When the senior center was in the planning stages, a decision was made to include the basement even though the project’s budget did not include money to finish it. Larry Fetter, who was the city’s parks and recreation director at the time, lobbied for the basement’s inclusion.

“You only have one chance to build a basement and this is it,” Fetter said at the time.

The senior center was built, in part, with a $2 million Community Development Block Grant. Under the terms of the grant, the center only could be used for activities for people 50 and older during its first five years. In 2023, the center became available for community use.

Hermiston Parks and Recreation Director Brandon Artz said a lot of thought went into how the basement would be utilized. An important feature, he said, is the sound proofing that went into it, something he said was necessary.

“Before any of the renovations, if anyone was walking upstairs it would have been too loud to be able to talk down here,” Artz said. “You could hear every footstep and every chair scrape. That was our biggest concern. If we were going to turn this space into something useable, how do we mitigate that sound? With the architects and a lot of forethought, we were able to do a lot of sound dampening with the ceiling. Now you could have 100 people up there eating a senior lunch on a Tuesday and Thursday and still have a program or event down here.”

Artz said the basement can accommodate a variety of events, including baptisms, baby showers, yoga and senior and recreational programs.

“If you’re part of an organization or a group that would like to use this space,” he said, “please come in and let us know.”