Newton Eyes 6 Sites For New Senior Center

NEWTON, MA — And then there were six. A group working to narrow down a list of possible places to build a new senior center winnowed the field of choices from 24 to six Tuesday.

On the list of sites to further study the possibility of having a new senior center? Albemarle Playground, Cabot Park, McGrath Park, Newton Centre Playground, Pelligrini Playground and Weeks Playground.

For those just tuning in, the growing population of people living in Newton who are older than 60 and who might use a senior center is outpacing the capacity at the center on Walnut Street. The building, repurposed in 1993 from a library, is hard for people in wheelchairs or with mobility issues to navigate, say those who use it. And unlike many senior centers in the area, it doesn't have a gym. That means in the large room they use for exercise classes participants can't hold their arms out all the way because the'll hit the person next to them. And those who frequent the space say that's just the tip of the iceberg.

Enter NewCAL — or the Newton Center for Active Living — the fancy, "age-friendly" name for the proposed center. The idea, years in the making, is that although the focus will be on seniors, everyone will be welcome. The project is expected to cost about $16 million.

"NewCAL will ultimately be a spacious, well-equipped (kitchen, gymnasium) and inviting community center for seniors and others that has outdoor programs and green space," according to the mayor.

The senior center is now a two-floor brick building encompassing 9,750 square feet. The building constructed in 1932 as a library. In the 1990s it was converted to a senior center and was the first time in Newton seniors had a central community center dedicated to services for them. It worked well then. But now, with about 6,000 square feet of it as usable space, according to officials, they've out grown it. At the center officials help connect seniors to community resources, issue parking passes, hold events, and offer classes. Colino said that with 40 percent of Newton's households containing someone older than 60, that's a lot of people and not a lot of space.

"We've kind of reached our limit," said Director of Senior Services Jayne Colino. "Yes, we've moved around and adapted, but there's only so much of that we can do."

Because the old library is a historic building, she said, they can't just tear it down and rebuild on site.

Ahead of the 2017 mayoral election, advocates sat down with all three mayoral candidates to put exploring the possibility of a new senior center on the map. Within six months of her election, Mayor Ruthanne Fuller had allocated money, said Colino.

A working group was put together and stakeholders hammered out an idea of what kind of programming the center would need. That vision work helped define what the space would need to look like. The tentative plan is to build a building that is more than triple the size of the center today. The plan is for a 37,000 square foot building, including a 10,000 square foot gymnasium and 27,000 square feet of other spaces. It will house 13 multi-purpose activity rooms of different sizes available for classes, recreation like yoga and Zumba, billiards and ping-pong, a library and reading room, art, dining, performance, and function space. There will also be a kitchen and café. NewCAL will also house several offices for providing services to seniors including a health room, social work space, and senior program volunteer-led space.

But first, the city and working group have to find a spot for it.

In the past year a working group was put together and an initial list of 145 possible sites has been winnowed to 24 (across 10 villages) for the facility that meet criteria laid out by the community. The village with the most suggested sites was Newton Centre, including Old Cold Springs Park, New Cold Springs Park, Newton Center Field House- Tyler Terrace, Weeks Park, Newton Center Playground and Ward Park.

To the chagrin of conservationists, 19 of the 24 proposed sites were on park land. Advocates for Cold Springs Park petitioned the city not to consider using any part of the park.

Using park or playground land is partly by design:

"The Center will be designed to promote and support the missions of the Senior Services and Parks, Recreation and Culture Departments," according to officials.

Councilors John Rice and Cheryl Lappin along with Parks and Recreation, Council on Aging, the mayor, community groups, the Design Review Committee and Conservation Commission made another pass on the locations after talking with stakeholders.

The short list:

• Albemarle Playground/Field (on Albemarle Road in West Newton)
• Cabot Park (probably on the northern portion of the site near Newtonville Avenue and East Side Parkway in Newtonville)
• McGrath Park (behind Warren House on Washington Street in West Newton)
• Newton Centre Playground (on Tyler Terrace where the Jeannette West Recreation Center (aka “The Hut”) is located in Newton Centre)
• Pelligrini Playground (on Hawthorne Street just off of Watertown Street in Nonantum)
• Weeks Playground (off Centre Street in Newton Centre)

Although the group is focusing on these six sites, officials said they're also still looking for possible non-city owned land.

The City Council will vote on the site recommendations, but if the location is a Parks and Recreation site, the Parks and Recreation Commission will also have a vote on it.

The Boston-based architectural and interiors firm Bargmann Hendrie + Archetype (BH+A) is the firm Newton has gone with. They're known for designing senior centers in Needham, Scituate and Cohasset, and an inter-generational center in Randolph.

"The senior community is very excited about this," said Colino. "What I'm looking forward to is a facility that attracts people and gets them into the door."

Sometimes seniors are hesitant to go into a senior center for what ever reason. City officials and the working groups are hoping that promoting an inclusive, "age friendly" new building will help get people over the age of 60 over hesitance.

"One of the big tenants of age friendly is respect and inclusion. And you need a good bricks and mortar vehicle to do that, and we don't have one," said Colino. "It's overdue."

Colino said that although there's been some 35 public meetings and a lot of engagement in the past two years, she hopes people continue to show up and speak up around what their hopes and wishes are around the senior center.

"It will be the best outcome the more community input that we have. Even if there's dissent. I want people to be engaged in the process, so we can all celebrate the outcome in the end," she said.

The next public meeting is: Thursday, Sept. 19 at 7 p.m. at the Newton Education Center (at 100 Walnut St.), Room 111.

For more information on NewCAL, visit newcal.projects.nv5.com

Patch reporter Jenna Fisher can be reached at Jenna.Fisher@patch.com or by calling 617-942-0474. Follow her on Twitter and Instagram (@ReporterJenna).