When you solicit ideas from the seniors who use their center, melding them with the years of knowledge of what seniors need and enjoy represented by the staff of the Greenfield Senior Center, pay a firm that has designed senior centers to help you decide how much space would be needed for the various activities in a new building, and ask for even more feedback about whether that proposed space would serve senior citizens well, you might think you are talking about a senior center.
Apparently not.
I won’t rehash the Isaac Mass-led effort that cut a large sum from the new building’s funding in 2016 with little real examination of what suffers with the reduction in money and the downsizing of what was an excellent and modest new center for Greenfield’s seniors.
What chafes is the decision that this building, designed for and with seniors to house social, exercise, educational, economic and health programs for seniors, can’t be called a “senior” center.
When the Town Council approved the smaller building on April 20, 2016, Councilor Mass surprised many by suggesting the word “senior” be taken out, replaced by “community.” This actually violated a section of the city charter, since a name change was not on the agenda and it was not forwarded for consideration and a recommendation from Planning and Construction Committee, including a public hearing.
Two days later, Mass asked to place a proposal on the agenda of the next Council meeting to name the new building the “John A. Zon Jr. Community Center,” forwarding it to the Planning and Construction Committee “for public hearing and recommendation.” Noting John Zon’s long service as president of the Greenfield Council on Aging, Mass suggested “His name will be a symbol to all that this building is truly a community center and a place where seniors are welcome.”
Excuse me? John’s name on the building would be somehow make it clear that it’s a community center and “a place where seniors are welcome?” How about calling it a senior center? Might that be an even stronger clue?
In the same email proposing the naming, Mass revealed why the word “senior” should disappear from the senior center. “By not calling this facility a senior center, we will be able to attract more patrons who believe they are not old enough for, or in need of senior services, but whom want to be part of our community.”
So, we’re going to trick them into coming by hiding the fact that the focus is on a part of the community that has an identifiable set of needs and concerns because they’re older? And when did being 55 or older become some badge of shame? In the United Kingdom, seniors are sometimes referred to as “Super Adults.” Who wouldn’t sign up to be a super adult?
I leave it to your imagination to work out the mental gymnastics that caused Councilor Mass to complete the thought above with “It [dropping the word ‘senior’] will further serve as a reminder to those who primarily occupy the building that it is a building which was built to service [sic] the entire community and should be available for such use.”
Uh, except that it was not designed to serve the entire community. It was designed as a senior center. Incidentally, it was designed so a portion of it could be made available when no senior programming was using that space, so there would be some much needed community meeting space. It’s not specifically set aside as different space for community activities. It’s space designed for seniors’ activities that can be used for other purposes when seniors are not using it.
Bob Williford is a resident of Greenfield.