SOUTH HADLEY — More than 50 residents came out Thursday evening to learn about plans to demolish and rebuild the town’s senior center.
“The seniors in South Hadley have waited a long time for this,” Council on Aging director Leslie Hennessey said in presenting the plans. “There’s been a lot of talk, but it’s tangible now. There’s a floor plan.”
The former elementary school at 45 Dayton St. dates from 1924 and is not a hospitable home for a senior center, Hennessey said. Fire safety and security concerns, poor ventilation, lack of storage, faulty landlines, and size were some obvious faults mentioned at the meeting, chief among them the lack of handicapped accessibility.
“It’s about how we are going to meet the needs of the growing (senior) population and best serve the current population,” Hennessey said.
The new design, with a price tag of approximately $9 million, features a curbless driveway out front, wider hallways, airport-style bathrooms, and safety call buttons in various places around the building. Almost every room will be multipurpose, serving as spaces for crafts, support groups, meals, movies and games.
Hennessey said the town will seek funds from the project from grants, donations and an ambitious fundraising goal of $1 million. The center relies on an annual $5,000 it receives from the Friends of the South Hadley Elderly, a nonprofit and the primary fundraising agent for the center.
“We will not ask for an override from the town,” Hennessey said. “Our town administrator, Mike Sullivan, made it clear to the architects that we had to make it fit a certain space with a certain price point.”
Last January the town hired EDM Eagles of Pittsfield to conduct a feasibility study, which determined the current site, being centrally located and near a main road, would be the best place for the new senior center. The firm partnered with Lifespan Studios, a senior-specific architecture design firm in Ohio, to draft the plans.
An anonymous donor also contributed $25,000 for a new fitness room.
“There is no gym … in South Hadley, so having this equipment here is great for the elders,” Hennessey said. She said specialized gym equipment is especially important for seniors going through physical therapy.
And not only does the Senior Center serve meals and host events for the elderly, it also serves as the kitchen for Meals on Wheels, serving around 100 meals every weekday. The new design takes this into account, with a larger kitchen and separate door for the Meals on Wheels volunteers to work from.
Linda Young, chairwoman of Know Your Town, which hosted the event, asked what would happen to the program as the new center was being built.
“We would close,” Hennessey answered. “There is also a possibility of maybe using some space at a church. We’ll think about it. We know we have to think about it, and if you have any suggestions, please let me know.”
Young said that using satellite facilities would cause the program to lose participants, and instead suggested building the center out into the adjacent baseball field, which is under the jurisdiction of the town Recreation Department.
Select Board member Bruce Forcier said that would be a complicated and cumbersome process.
“You would have to have the Legislature get involved, as well as get the governor to approve it,” Forcier said. “The neighborhood uses this park, and as much as we’d like the space, it wouldn’t be worth it to take something away.”
Hennessey encouraged everyone, young and old, to make their voices heard during the planning process.
“Tell your friends what you’ve seen tonight,” she said. “Let them know that the senior center is not just a vision, it is a plan and we’re ready to see it through.”
Sarah Robertson can be reached at srobertson@gazettenet.com