Master plan unveiled for Kellett property

A Seneca official unveiled a draft master plan for future use of the former Kellett Elementary School building and property.  Architectural renderings for the 12 acres amid a residential neighborhood show a new city museum, green space, along with a potential assisted living care facility about which a private developer has approached the city.  Greg Dietterick, city administrator, met for about 90 minutes last night with members of a neighborhood committee in what was described as an initial fact-finding meeting.  Dietterick said his purpose was to receive feedback, and he got a lot of it in the form of questions and comments from about 10 people at the meeting.  Sandra Gray says her group will call a meeting open to all of her neighborhood.  “We’d like to let them know what we know,” Gray said after last night’s City Hall meeting.  Some of the Kellett area residents last night said they like the city’s ideas for a museum that would have a pedal car collection, along with furnishings from the city’s recent acquisition of the contents of a mansion near Columbia.  But they were less enthusiastic about the idea of an assisted living facility.  Dietterick told the meeting that Charles Gillespie, who developed the Park Place facility on Radio Station Road, would like to use the four acres of the Kellett property that includes the former school for an assisted living facility that would contain at least 55 beds.  The city administrator said he welcomes Gillespie’s proposal because it would add revenue to the city’s tax base and help meet the need of the area’s graying population, but the decision belongs to the mayor and city council.  Dietterick wants neighborhood feedback so he can communicate it to the elected leaders.  The 12 acres are bounded by streets on four sides:  S. 5th, Quincy, Dougberry, and Adams.