Seniors Anticipate Program Space, Storage This Year

By Kendra Bobowick

A small addition will mean more programming space for seniors squeezed into the multipurpose building at 14 Riverside Road in Sandy Hook.

Center Director Marilyn Place said the seniors are “absolutely” looking forward to the expansion. “We’re waiting with bated breath, we’re so excited.”

Commission on Aging member John Aurelia said that pushing for more space has been the commission’s main project. “It’s sadly needed,” he said. Naming an old cliché, he said, “If you build it they will come; definitely, they’ll be here.”

The approximately $300,000 project that will add a two-story addition, three-season room or sun-porch, and two handicap accessible bathroom facilities is covered by a Local Capital Improvement Program (LoCIP) grant, said First Selectman Herb Rosenthal. “This is not budget funds or borrowed. It’s all grant money.”

The addition’s roughly 26-foot by 32-foot main room is something seniors have been waiting to see for several years, and at last expansions are within reach. “I hope this can be done over the summer and ready for the fall,” Architect Donald J. Zaleta said. Describing the project, Mr Zaleta began with a corridor that will connect the old with the new. The corridor will lead from the current building to the addition. The addition’s main room can also be accessed through an entrance vestibule. The program room sits below the second-floor storage space. Off the room’s back wall are sliding doors opening on a three-season room, not necessarily warm in the winter, Mr Zaleta said, explaining the room is best occupied in the spring, summer, and fall.

Following a Planning and Zoning hearing later this month Mr Zaleta plans to put the project out to bid — another four- to six-week time period. Once plans are in the hands of a successful bidder, work can begin.

Relieved that the center will soon see a boost in square footage, Ms Place said, “It will open a lot of space.” And she already has programming slated to fill the new floor plan. “We can stretch out the programming we have already; [currently] there is not enough room, period.”

Mr Aurelia describes a dire struggle in the cramped space now accommodating seniors, including different activities overlapping. Yoga and breakfast don’t mix, he explained. “Now, we have got to constantly take things down or put things up to perform during the day,” he said.

In late March, Mr Zaleta reviewed proposed plans with the Public Building and Site Commission. As architects and commissioners flipped through the plans, the members unanimously moved to authorize Mr Zaleta to “bring the prints to the appropriate places to move the project along,” said member Anthony D’Angelo.

The Senior Center, The Children’s Adventure Center, and consultation rooms used by the Visiting Nurse Association all currently occupy space at 14 Riverside Road.

Future expansion plans, specifically either a new standalone center, or shared space in a new multipurpose building accommodating other pubic departments will not be compromised, assured the first selectman.

“We have been planning this for a few years to get them some space until we get a standalone facility or are part of a community center; this is to hold them over,” Mr Rosenthal said. Currently the seniors are among several groups hoping for a new facility. Future plans will not be compromised by the pending addition, he said.

“[The building] is still a public space so if seniors aren’t using it, the Children’s Adventure Center will, or other town organizations will use it.”

Multipurpose Possibilities

Generating conversation in past months is the idea of a combined-use building to house seniors, the Parks and Recreation Department, and possibly the Newtown Cultural Arts Commission (NCAC). Board of Selectmen members had requested that the organizations that are all seeking more space or new space consider combining under one roof in some configuration.

Expressing hesitation to join a combined space, Mr Aurelia said, “We’re in a combined building now, and it doesn’t quite work out. The seniors want to have their own center.” With a few scenarios, he argued why a multiuse building would be a problem.

“After 5 pm young people come in because it’s multiuse, and what happens in the summer when children want to use the pool room?” he asked. Both he and Ms Place agreed that seniors have been waiting for several years for this addition.

Also addressing the town’s recreation needs is another, private scenario.

A private offer came from resident Peter D’Amico who has expressed an interest to support the town’s youth, and is willing to build an indoor recreation facility. He has established a not-for-profit entity called Newtown Youth Academy with the intention of providing facilities preferably at Fairfield Hills. Mr Rosenthal also has established a working group to develop a plan to address the town’s recreational and community needs in a new facility.