New Additions Increases Opportunities At Senior Center

By Nancy K. Crevier

It may be the best-kept secret in town. While voters were agonizing over the budget and in an uproar over Fairfield Hills issues, a 575-square-foot addition to the Newtown Senior Center quietly rose from the ground up, adding just enough room to relieve the space concerns there and open up former space to new uses.

Construction started in the fall of 2007, thanks to a small cities grant for $250,000 received under the Rosenthal administration, said Senior Center Director Marilyn Place. “Herb knew that this was the only thing to do in a timely fashion to make a difference for the seniors in town. It just had to be done because of the growth in town,” said Ms Place. “By putting on this one addition, it satisfies the seniors until the time comes to do something else. The town can focus on school additions and things like that,” she said.

Members of the center began using the new space the week of May 12, and could not be happier, according to Ms Place. The 24-by-24-foot room is a bright, open space with pale green walls and sliding glass doors that open onto what will soon be a three-season sunroom and a bocce court on the regraded back yard. The room will be used primarily for exercise classes, line dancing, tai chi class, and larger seminar groups such as the Adult-55 driving class, said Ms Place. “The way this is built, it is private. The classes aren’t going to feel like they’re being watched, or interrupted by people walking through to use the restroom.”

A large screen TV will be mounted on the wall for PowerPoint presentations, movie presentations, and to accommodate the new Wii video games that are going to be introduced. “We had the exercise classes in here this week and it was wonderful. We worked out some glitches about how many can comfortably be in the class and still give Pat [Babbage] room to teach. Everyone just loved how nice and bright it is in here,” Ms Place said.

Exercise classes will be split into morning and afternoon sessions, she said, as will some of the other regular morning activities, because even though the new addition allows for increased multiple activities at the same time, the number of parking spaces at the center have not increased.

What excites Ms Place the most, though, is that with the main room now available for quilting, sewing, and craft groups, the smaller rooms beyond the main room can be used to offer more “men friendly” activities. She is hoping that a pool table selected by the Senior Action Committee will be installed in the room just off of the main room within two weeks, and in a room adjacent to that, men will soon find a new poker table and game tables for chess, checkers, and board games. The rooms will be repainted and redecorated with more masculine appeal, she said, and she is hopeful that word will quickly spread about town that the center is not a place for little old ladies to sit and knit, but that there are activities to keep both men and women occupied.

The new hallway that links the addition to the original space is ideal for another activity that Ms Place believes will draw men and women. A portable shuffleboard made of a special material that adheres temporarily to the floor can be placed there. “It’s perfect for this long hallway,” she said.

Plans to incorporate a woodcarving group into the center’s long list of activities are also underway. “It is not necessarily lessons, but made up of guys who are accomplished woodcarvers. It will give them a chance to get together and I’m so happy to be able to offer them a space to do the woodcarving here. The setup just has not been conducive before to men seeking activities during the day,” said Ms Place.

The so-called “unusable” space above the new room has turned out to be ideal for storing seasonal decorations and supplies that used to prevent the few small rooms the center had from being used they way they should have been, said Ms Place, another bonus of the new addition.

The more activities that can be offered in a better environment, the more the center will be appreciated by the members, said Ms Place, and she looks forward to an increased utilization of the Senior Center by the many eligible town residents. “I think that people do not realize that senior centers are open to anyone 60 years of age and up, or to the physically disabled, ages 55 and up. We are not an adult day care, but we have many activities of interest to those who are physically disabled. And now, we can accommodate them. The new hallway is wheelchair accessible and easier for people with walkers or canes to navigate, and the new room has sliding doors that accommodate wheelchairs. We also have two new handicap accessible bathrooms, at last. It’s just amazing,” Ms Place said.

What seems like a small expansion is going to expand greatly how the Senior Center is viewed, she said. “People need to change their view of what a senior center is. There might be ladies knitting, but they are doing it as a group to give back to the community. Seniors today want to travel, they want companionship, they want to have new experiences, and they want the freedom to come and go. We can offer even more of that, now.

“It is such a feeling of release to have this space. This is going to work,” she said.