I would like to take a moment to add some facts to the recent conversations in the Recorder about the New Senior Center.
First of all, if you read Chris Collins’ opinion piece, you might believe that only 600 seniors use the existing senior center. The correct number is 1,519 — which Chris could have verified by calling the Senior Center or checking the COA annual report on the Town of Greenfield website. The number of annual visits is much higher (14,509) because most seniors use several programs and many visit every weekday.
The current senior population (age 60 and over) of Greenfield is 4,200, or 24 percent of our 17,456 total. The Greenfield Senior Center welcomes those 55 and older; thus even more than 4,200 are eligible to use its services. Moreover, the Massachusetts Office of Elder Affairs projects a continuing increase in the elder population.
Consider that the vote for the new Greenfield High School could not have passed without the senior vote. Imagine that seniors didn’t want to vote for the new school, saying “We don’t have kids in school.” Now consider the fact that the successful override vote for the high school obligated Greenfield’s taxpayers to $24 million of the $66 million project. For 454 students. That’s right: 454 students (Mass.gov 2015 enrollment figures).
The $5.25 million for the senior center, rejected by the Town Council, is less than a tenth of the high school cost. It includes $500,000 already spent for management and design, reducing any costs to less than $5 million. The existing design includes underground drainage systems, water installation for the community garden, sufficient accessible parking, and a highly energyefficient building that fits in with the existing neighborhood.
Greenfield’s Finance director and mayor have both stated publicly and emphatically that the new senior center will not raise taxes, given the town’s graduated system of debt repayment, by which other debts will have been paid when the senior center project enters the debt repayment phase.
Fifty-fiveyearold Greenfield residents will soon be 60, then 65, and with luck even older — retired or widowed or in other ways seeking community, exercise programs, and many other services.
These include art and recreational activities, attorney and benefits counseling, bereavement support, computer lab and services, legislative office hours, book discussion and writing group, dance and fitness, board and card games, and much more, all free of charge.
Current exercise classes can’t accommodate all the seniors who want to attend, due to lack of usable space. Large pillars encroach on the existing narrow floor. Many senior functions often have a waiting list — again due to lack of space, a big disappointment for those who were counting on a social event to combat their isolation.
All current services are provided by a very small and devoted staff who work hard to satisfy the needs of Greenfield’s seniors. We know of many seniors who would like to attend programs but cannot do so, because of the condition of the current senior center in the basement of the Weldon apartments. It is too small. Mold in the walls and ceilings causes a health threat to those with allergies and other chronic conditions. It is dangerous (falling ceilings and broken pavement), without adequate parking, and just plain uninviting.
Seniors deserve a dedicated building, with spaces that are safe and designed to meet the needs of seniors, and which are adequate for all of the many valuable programs, activities and services.
Please, if you agree that the seniors of Greenfield need and deserve a new senior center (whether or not you are a senior yet yourself), please contact your town councilor and/or the mayor, and say so.
Let’s hope that the Town Council will compare a $66 million high school for 454 students to a less than $5 million senior center for a minimum of 1,500 seniors (and likely many more if the experience of other senior centers is any indication). This will be a healthy and environmentally sensitive new senior center that will double as a community center, something the high school does not do.
Ginger Carson is chairwoman of the Greenfield Council on Aging and a member of the Greenfield senior center building committee.