By Lori Ehde
The Rock County Developmental Achievement Center is nearing the end of a major remodeling project that started last summer.
According to DAC Director Dorothy Cronin, the $300,000 remodeling project is something that will finally allow the DAC to operate with adequate space and above code.
"It adds the basic things we need to operate," she said. "We had to have an appropriate meeting room, we had to have an appropriate bathroom with a lift, we had to have a handicap-accessible ramp. These aren't really what we could call extras."
Code violations previously included handicapped accessibility inside and outside of the building, sanitary violations (including mop sinks and washer and dryer in the main areas), inadequate conference room, no special medication room (medication had been locked in a kitchen cabinet), no second legal exit and a bathroom that's too small.
Visitors to the DAC today will notice an expansive, sunny conference room with bay windows, a bathroom the size of a bedroom with ceiling tracking for a lift system, and an attractive three-season porch on the north that will serve as the second legal exit.
The remodeling project was financed in part by public and private donations.
The Rock County Board committed a no-interest loan of up to $120,000 to be paid back in eight years. The City of Luverne gave the DAC a $15,000 grant.
In addition to many other private contributors, Bremer Bank, Edgerton, through the Otto Bremer Foundation, donated $15,000 to the project.
Cronin said contractors expect to finish the work by late June, and final inspections will be set for mid-summer.
What is the DAC?
The DAC started 1967 in the basement of St. Catherine Church and is now located on the west end of Main Street.
It exists through public and private financing for the purpose of employing individuals with mental retardation, developmental disabilities or traumatic brain injuries.
More than 30 such individuals are currently employed through DAC, working on projects either at the West Main Street location or on jobs off-site at various locations.
In-house projects can include manual assembly, paper shredding, mass mailing and more. "The jobs change all the time, depending on what businesses need," Cronin said.
She said DAC employees are currently working on eight in-house projects, but they are busiest putting labels on packaging for Gold'n Plump, Luverne, and assembling medical equipment for Apex Medical Corporation, Sioux Falls.
DAC now has 12 off-site contracts, many of which include cleaning work.
"Right now we're busy," Cronin said, "but we're always looking for more work."