By Patrick Crowley
The Cincinnati Enquirer

HIGHLAND HEIGHTS - The Campbell County Senior Citizens Center has received a $429,000 grant for an expansion that will increase the center's health-related services.

The federal grant is administered by the commonwealth and was awarded by the Kentucky Department for Local Government. It will cover nearly all of the $500,000 needed to build a 5,000-square-foot addition at the center, on U.S. 27 south of Northern Kentucky University.

The center now has just 500 square feet of space for part-time health services. Yet even in tight quarters, more than 100 of the center's 140 average daily visitors use its exercise and health services.

Final plans, including a construction timetable, have not been announced. Several organizations and institutions worked to secure the money, including the City of Highland Heights, Northern Kentucky University, the Northern Kentucky Independent Health District and the Greater Cincinnati Health Foundation.

"Access to health services is important for every Kentuckian," Gov. Paul Patton said in a statement announcing the grant. "This project allows seniors in Campbell and the surrounding counties to gain and maintain fitness at the Highland Heights facility."

The addition will be dedicated exclusively to health-related services that include exercise, diet and nutrition classes, blood pressure and diabetes screenings and inoculations, according to Jody Lassiter, commissioner of the Department of Local Government.

E-mail pcrowley@enquirer.com