A Tight Fit At The Newtown Senior Center

By Nancy K. Crevier

“Everybody comes here for one thing,” says Marilyn Place, director of the Newtown Senior Center on Riverside Road in Sandy Hook. “To meet people.”

But seniors are meeting too many people there these days. The Newtown Senior Center, which opened its doors in February of 1979, is squeezed for space. “In 1979,” Ms Place remarks, “it was serving 300 people a year. We service 300 people a week now.”

Ms Place has been at the senior center since 1989, and the facility was already too small for the number of members it attracted at that time. Overcrowding has only increased every year, as longevity improves and the number of newly retired and newly widowed seniors seeking interaction increases.

The monthly programs organized by Ms Place and her assistants regularly draw far more people than the 75 permitted by law in the meeting room. Registration is required for the programs, but Ms Place says that even so, people just show up, pushing the capacity to standing room only.

TRIAD, a joint effort of the Newtown police, People’s Bank, and the senior center to empower senior citizens, sponsors several program each year at the center. Their programs consistently draw large numbers of seniors. This spring’s ice cream social and safety program by TRIAD was so popular that the center shuttled attendees from the Sandy Hook Fire House parking area to the center, as parking spaces at the senior center were quickly snapped up.

“Thank goodness for that shuttle bus,” says Ms Place. “Ashlar donated it to us three years ago and it has come in so handy. Things go more smoothly when we can shuttle people in.” The staff of Newtown Senior Center and of the Children’s Adventure Center, which shares the building, uses the Sandy Hook Fire House parking area during center events, in order to free up parking spaces for seniors.

Whenever the center offers programs to clarify social services, such as the one presented August 24 on Medicare’s Prescription Drug Plan, Ms Place knows that many more than those registered will show up. It is not something she ever wants to do, but Ms Place has had to turn away people from programs many times. “We utilize waiting lists constantly,” she says.

Providing services without overtaxing the space requires creativity on the part of the director and her staff. Some programs are split into two sessions, such as the AARP (American Association of Retired Persons) driving course. Or seniors may be referred to other senior centers in the state offering a similar program to the one from which they have been turned away.

The flu shot clinic services 300 people in two hours, says Ms Place. “We try to give them a set time within 15 minute blocks, and that does work.” It does not always work out as smoothly as she would like, though.

The popularity of exercise programs, yoga, music, and informational programs frequently cause parking and seating problems. But these programs are important to the members, says Ms Place. The needs of seniors have changed. “The new members are more active,” she explains. “They are more aware of nutrition and exercise.”

Newer members are also big supporters of the bus trips offered at least once a month. “The traveling situation has exploded. They [seniors] want to see things, but they don’t want to drive,” Ms Place states. “But more seniors are driving [to the center], so there’s not enough parking here.”

Sometimes there is just not enough space, period. The holiday party is always held at The Fireside Inn, and the ballroom is filled. Likewise, the center’s summer party is held beneath the pavilion at Dickinson Park to accommodate the many revelers. “I would love to host it here,” exclaims Ms Place. “But there is not enough room even outside — it’s just a hill in back.”

A Big Wish List

Expanding the senior center, in an ideal world, explains Ms Place, would mean tripling the space. “If you only meet your needs halfway, you’re not fulfilling the needs for the future.

“My wish list is big,” she goes on to say. Rooms in which seniors could meet privately with tax assistors and physicians top Ms Place’s wish list, as does a proper function room. “If we had a stationary room it would be much easier. The art room would be just an art room, the card room just a card room…. We wouldn’t be moving stuff around all the time.”

The center serves 30 to 40 lunches each day in the main room. If a program is taking place, it means putting up and then taking down many tables. A separate lunch and snack area would alleviate that.

A small room off of the main room serves as a sewing area for the many women who sew for various charities, creating blankets for babies born with AIDS, chemo caps for cancer patients of all ages, and blankets for the homeless. The women work out of boxes and trunks, pulling supplies out and putting them back. Sewing machines need to be lugged out of the storage area, set up, then returned each day to clear up space for any organizations that might be using the center in the evening; for the Newtown Senior Center is also a designated multipurpose area. After 4:30 pm, town organizations may use the space for meetings.

Some of the director’s issues concern the safety of the center’s members. The extra rooms and offices, added in 1989, have no back doors. The only exits are the sliding doors off of the main room and the main entrance. Nor are any of the doors automated. Heavy exterior doors and sliders are difficult for some members to manage.

Restrooms are an issue, as well. Not only are the two stalls in each of the bathrooms inadequate for a full capacity crowd, but no handicap toilet exists in the building.

Ms Place is concerned that the needs of the older members be met, as well. “We have some who are in their 90s. We need a special area for the more frail members. They have different needs than the younger members. You can’t turn your back on them.” A separate meeting area for them would enable her to book programs and speakers geared toward those needs.

“With the help of a fairy godmother,” Ms Place would like to see the unaccommodating landscaping around the senior center reworked to include space for bocce and horseshoes. She estimates that 80 percent of the members are women, and admits that activities for the men are often overlooked. “There is nothing to do outside. What about a woodshop? The guys would love it. I get calls from people moving that want to donate a pool table, but I can’t take it. How great would that be?” she asks.

While the center director’s dreams may not be fully realized in the near future, some relief is in the works.

First Selectman Herb Rosenthal is well aware of the space issue at the Newtown Senior Center. This year’s town budget includes funding to hire an architect to design some sort of three- or four-season room on the footprint of the existing patio at the senior center, he says. “If the quote comes in at under $200,000, we could get some LoCIP [Local Capitol Improvement Programs] funding. If that’s the case, we could do it this year.”

The next intermediate step in addressing the space problem would be to add a second story to the Riverside building, giving the center approximately 1,500 square feet more with which to work. This step, explains Mr Rosenthal, would be part of a five-year capital improvement plan.

“Everyone in town recognizes this problem [of inadequate space at the center], but it comes down to money,” Ms Place acknowledges. “We do well to accommodate people with what we have. Let’s utilize this space properly. If we could use this space, it would save taxpayers money. It takes planning, good planning.”

In the meantime, seniors might want to keep abreast of upcoming offerings at the senior center and register early. If not, be prepared to meet people up close and personal.