I was among those who urged the Greenfield Town Council, in voting whether to fund a new building on Pleasant Street, to support a community center rather than a place exclusively reserved for old people. I am an old person who doesn’t think it’s a healthy development for society to herd the elderly into separate facilities for the old. Once the Zon Center opened, I discovered to my dismay that the Senior Center was claiming sole authority to control all use of and access to the building.
Early on, I went there with a friend — we’re both in our seventies — to see if the building would be suitable for an annual singing event held by the Western Massachusetts Sacred Harp Community, of which I was then on the board of directors. We were met at the door by an employee who would not even let us in the building unless we stated our business and presented identification. We were also told that we were not allowed to look around the new facility — not even into empty rooms — unless accompanied by a Senior Center worker.
I objected that we were Greenfield residents, that this was a public building, and that we had the right to enter and look around the public spaces unimpeded. Never mind, those were the rules. In any event, she said, my mission was in vain, as use of the building was unavailable to “outside groups.” When asked what that meant, she said that only Senior Center programs and members could use the building.
Although none of the rooms suited my purpose, I expressed my disappointment in how the center is being used in emails to town councilors, which came to nothing. So I’m grateful that this fiefdom is finally being recognized for what it is. Unlike the Senior Center boosters who have been complaining in The Recorder, I’m glad that elected officials are questioning the director about the invisible wall she has built around Greenfield’s lovely, spacious community center. There is nothing elder-specific in that building’s design or layout, and it is a scandal that only specific programs for the old are allowed to use it. Even the Senior Symposium — a venerated lecture series which meets during Senior Center hours — has been kicked out of the building.
Wendy Sibbison
Greenfield