When the Newtown Senior Center relocates to its new space abutting the community center at Fairfield Hills next summer, its name will relocate with it — albeit with a newly minted tag line.

The local Commission On Aging (COA) met December 17 and voted unanimously to retain the facility’s current name, but to add the tag line “Center For Active Living” to its official title. The commission also informally agreed they would entertain other possible facility branding in the event a significant benefactor was looking to possibly influence future naming rights.

During discussion on the subject, COA Anne Rothstein suggested, “If we have a huge donor, we could give them naming rights.” First Selectman Dan Rosenthal, who attended the meeting, seemed to endorse the idea, adding, “If somebody wants to, I’m all ears.”

After canvassing members of the center as well as other seniors in the community, 118 of the 161 responses to a query about possibly renaming the new facility came back supporting keeping the “Senior Center” handle intact.

After referring to the canvass as a “ballot,” COA member John Boccuzzi noted that while the question of the center’s future name was put primarily to current members, it did not circulate to any measurable audience of prospective future users of the facility. He then motioned to remove the name “Senior Center” from the new facility name.

COA member LeReine Frampton reminded the panel that the naming consideration was also circulated at the Nunnawauk public housing facility, which is predominantly occupied by residents over age 50. She also pointed out that consideration of a new or augmented name for the center was written about twice in the center’s newsletter and the The Newtown Bee.

Alternate member Larry Passaro weighed in, saying it was unclear “how the other 5,000 seniors around town feel,” adding that the designation of older adults as “seniors is being more resented.”

Alternate member Maureen Will supported keeping the name as proposed, saying, “the people have spoken.”

COA member George Guiderra said perhaps a compromise could be made by combining the current name with one of the more popular suggested alternates: Center For Active Living.” He also reminded the commission that they did not have to take final action at that meeting.

Member Ruby Ryles, who joined the meeting by phone, said based on her observation, the country is moving toward the label of “older adults,” versus seniors.

Ms Wiedemann reviewed the four suggested names that resonated with certain members: Newtown Center For Active Living; Newtown Prime Timers; “OUR” Center — standing for “Onward, Upward, Retirees” Center; and The Gathering Place.

COA member Curt Symes referenced a previous survey on senior concerns and the 1,500 to 1,600 responses that resulted, saying that he did not believe the 118 responses tallied on the latest canvass were truly representative of the community’s overall aging population.

He said that some view the new facility as a “new beginning,” and that they want to see a name change as part of that new beginning.

Mr Rosenthal told the commission that they should not discount the votes supporting retaining the current name, while admitting that those voting were not presented with the choice of suggested names.

“Maybe with publicity, we can get more input,” the first selectman said. “Adding a tag line is fine, and maybe we can put names out there for consideration.”

Ms Will countered that the center’s new beginning would be more closely associated with the ambiance of the new facility and the programming.

“Let people come through the doors first,” she said, adding that keeping the ‘Senior Center’ name honors the will of the people who have spoken.

Mr Symes noted that the community center leadership is “already way down the track in marketing the new name and information,” and said the “new senior center is invisible.”

Mr Rosenthal pointed out that Newtown has never had a new community center before, while the senior center has been an institution for some time, so energy around the community center is rooted in “a different kind of interest.” Ms Will concurred, saying that seniors are very aware a new senior facility is poised to open.

A motion by Mr Guiderra to push off a decision on the naming by one month tied, so it failed. Mr Boccuzzi then motioned to add the tag line “Center For Active Living” to the official facility name, and it passed unanimously. Ms Frampton then suggested considering using “The Gathering Place” as a suggested name for the cafe that is planned for the facility.

In other business, the commission had an energized discussion around a new electronic fob system the center installed to help better track data the COA could use in determining future programming and staffing. It was pointed out that a segment of active center members either refused to use the system or were not consistently using it.

Ms Will suggested the center director hold at least one information session that included a presentation on the use of the fob system.

Mr Passaro appeared frustrated that the COA was receiving two separate reports on attendance and program participation — one based on fob data, and the other based on head counts provided anecdotally by the center director.

In response, Mr Boccuzzi suggested that going forward, only reports generated through the fob system should be presented.