The Citizens Center on Welcome Street has seen a lot of things in its 32 years.
The building that houses the Council on Aging, Haverhill Recreation Department, Veterans Affairs and other community organizations will be on the cutting edge of energy efficiency.
Thanks to money secured by Congresswoman Niki Tsongas, the Citizen Center will be the first city building to sport solar panels.
Tsongas brought a check for $237,875 to Mayor James Fiorentini on Friday morning. The money will be used to install solar panels on the Citizen Center and to upgrade energy delivery in the building.
Fiorentini was thrilled that Tsongas could come through with the money after the city identified it as a priority.
"She listened and she took care of our needs in Haverhill," he said.
"We want Haverhill to be a leader in alternative energy and a leader in solar energy," Tsongas said as she presented the check to the city.
Increasing the energy efficiency at the building will reduce the city's energy bills and hopefully eliminate the money needed each year for various repairs on the building's heating and cooling systems, Fiorentini said.
The Citizens Center, designed in the 1960s, was designed to utilize energy efficient measures like solar and geothermal, but those possibilities were not realized until now.
A grant from the Massachusetts Technology Collaborative for $56,000 a year ago helped begin the process. A solar energy system is set to be installed in June to help power the building. The money also paid for many energy upgrades, including updated heating, ventilation and air conditioning controls that resulted in better control of the building's interior temperature and air circulation.
Those upgrades will not only make the Citizens Center more efficient, since it has the option to turn off the heat or air conditioning when no one is in the building, but it will also make the building a more comfortable place for everyone who uses it, according to Vinny Ouellette, the city's recreation director. The senior citizens, who tend to like their rooms a little bit warmer, can have their heat and employees upstairs who want their offices a little cooler can have their way as well.
The money received Friday from the federal government will continue to make the building more energy efficient, but exactly how that money will be used is still unsure. The city could expand the solar panels, replace the boiler, fix the roof or update the rooftop air conditioning units.
"We're defining the scope of the project at this point," Ouellette said. "It's really at the infancy stages."
