KILLEEN, Texas (KXXV) — A renovation project at the Rosa Hereford Community and Senior Center remains on hold as the city searches for a new contractor and weighs the financial impact of a project that has dragged on since 2023.
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The city announced Monday it terminated its contract with HCS Inc. after an inspection revealed structural issues the company would not accept responsibility for, or agree to fix within the required deadline.
Seniors who rely on community centers say the continued delay has real consequences. Rubie Gamble, who attends the current senior center at Lions Club Park, said connection and access matter deeply for older residents.
"If they could just bring up [Rosa Senior Center] side to [Lions Club Park Senior Center] and make it cohesive, and get people out of isolation. You could die from that, from being isolated and disconnected with the real world, and that's important for seniors," Gamble said.
Tracey Saunders, who also attends the Lions Club Park Senior Center, said she hopes the Rosa Hereford center opens for seniors who cannot reach the current location due to transportation challenges.
"It's important to have transportation because sometimes it takes you an hour or two to go to transportation and different things because the area and whatnot," Saunders said.
Councilmember at Large Mellissa Brown said the city is committed to completing the project to the highest standard.
"We are working diligently to make sure that that essential resource for the public is open, but what it is, we want to make sure it is the highest quality projects that we can put out. And I believe that in taking the action that we did, we will get a project done faster that fits the needs of everyone in the community," Brown said.
As the city enters its budget decision period, the vacant center may lose operational funding for the next fiscal year — but Brown said freeing up that money could actually benefit the community financially. She explained that the only funding being considered for diversion is the operational budget, and with the center unlikely to open in the 2027 fiscal year, that money can be put to work elsewhere.
"The only funding we're talking about diverting is going to be the operational budget. Clearly it would be a decision that has recently been made. It's highly unlikely that the center would be open in the 2027 fiscal year. So that allows us to take money from being on hold to be used to operate the building that isn't available and put it into other city departments that are actively servicing the community," Brown explained.
"Anything else that's in our general funds, can now use that almost $600,000. And we do that, one to make sure it services our top notch, but also that reduces the need for us to increase property taxes, which, of course, every time we can do that, that also saves money on rent for people, because every time we have a tax increase that increases rental costs also," Brown said.
The city is not commenting further on the situation as the matter could end up in court. A request for comment to the legal team representing HCS Inc. did not receive a response.
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