GREENFIELD — Designers have reduced the footprint of the proposed Senior Center while adding more green space and room for solar panels on the roof.
The Senior Center Building Committee, which unanimously voted Friday to support the new design, hopes the plan will satisfy town councilors who rejected funding the building last month, citing cost, planned use and impact on taxpayers.
The updated design, done by Kerry Dietz of Springfield-based Dietz and Company Architects, reduces the building’s footprint by about 2,000 square feet and cuts out 30 parking spots, but makes room for 166 roof-mounted solar panels and leaves the size of the community room about the same.
“We’ve started down a path of trying to accommodate the Council,” said Daniel Pallotta of P3 Inc., the owner’s project manager. “They may not like what we came up with again, I don’t know how much smaller you can make this and adequately serve the seniors of today and tomorrow, but I think we’ve demonstrated we can get some money out of this.”
The next step in the process, Dietz said, will involve a meeting between herself and Pallotta to price out the new design. An estimate of how much the proposed building would cost was not available Friday.
Committee member Ginger Carson said a major concern of hers is the reduced parking, down to 69 spaces. She said more than 1,500 people used the Senior Center last year and the building saw a total of 15,900 visits.
“People flock to a new senior center,” she said. “Think about an increase to that and reduce the parking by 30 spaces, it’s scary to me. We’re not talking about young folks that can park down the street and dash up the sidewalk — we’re talking about people with mobility issues.”
Senior Center Director Hope Macary said one way to address the parking issue is by strategically scheduling programming, and additional parking could be added at a later time.
“What I like is the (4,000-square-foot) community use space looks almost untouched,” she added. “That’s a good portion of the building.”
The community and rain garden stayed the same in the updated plan, as well as additional green space due to the reduced parking. However, Dietz said to reduce the building’s footprint, she eliminated an office, toilet and kitchenette in the staff area, as well as washing machines and a custodial closet, and cut the number of classrooms from three to two.
The plan still features a teaching kitchen, lounge, cafe, lobby, fitness room and porch.
Pallotta said making the building as green as possible has been a topic of discussion, but getting it Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) certified would be an unnecessary added cost. However, he said the designer will make it very energy-efficient.
“We can follow LEED without being LEED-certified. There’s considerable cost and paperwork that’s associated with being LEED-certified,” Dietz added.
Greenfield resident Gary Greene at Friday’s meeting worried that senior center programming could impede the community-use aspect of the building, limiting it to after-hours.
“When it’s not programmed or scheduled, it’s available,” Mayor William Martin responded.
Martin also addressed taxpayer concerns by saying the project costs would be included in the town’s budget and could not, by law, increase the budget by more than 2½ percent.
“It comes down to a value judgment,” he said. “Some people don’t get a chance to go around anywhere — this is their vacation, this is their food, this is their survival, this is their chance to socialize.”
Once the cost of the new design is determined, the committee will meet to further discuss plans moving forward.
You can reach Aviva Luttrell at: aluttrell@recorder.com
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