Newton Residents Push Back On Senior Center At Albemarle Field

NEWTON, MA — City officials say Albemarle Field near the edge of Nonantum and West Newton is the top spot for the new senior center — but residents are pushing back with two online petitions garnering nearly 7,000 signatures together.

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, say officials. The senior center 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 or enough space. And because the old building is historic it can't be torn down or renovated significantly enough to give them the space they need, say senior center officials.

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.

"Newton needs an improved senior center, but the proposed NewCAL siting at Albemarle sets a dangerous precedent for all of our parks," reads a petition Cedar Pruit posted recently in an effort to preserve parks in the Garden City. She argues the site isn't centrally located, parking is already scarce and it could negatively impact Cheesecake Brook.

As of Thursday 275 people had signed it. Another 6,500 had signed a separate petition calling on the mayor to "immediately remove all public parks from consideration for the NewCAL site, and to reaffirm Newton's commitment to preserving its natural spaces."

According to the mayor, if a center is placed on the parkland it would coexist with and compliment the Albemarle-Gath Pool complex. The city has also said from the beginning that the plan would include both Senior Services and Parks and Recreation and Culture Departments. Fuller also said details will be posted online about the some 40 sites (six of them at the top of the list) but that nothing is set in stone.

"While the Albemarle-Gath Pool site is the top ranked location for NewCAL and will be studied in depth, the City will continue to consider non-city-owned sites until a final proposal is sent to the Parks and Recreation Commission, Council on Aging and the City Council," she said in a statement.

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, 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.

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.

The change.org petition that Daniel Jackson posted several weeks ago calling on the mayor to remove all parks from the list of consideration called parks Newton's greatest resources.

"It would be a tragedy if green space is lost in the rush to find a site for a new city building," reads the petition.

Upcoming meetings about the proposed Senior Center:

• Wednesday, Sept. 11 – Design Review Committee - Library, Trustees Room at 6:00 p.m.
• Monday, Sept. 16 – Parks and Recreation Commission – City Hall, Room 211 at 7:00 p.m.
• Wednesday, Sept. 18 – Programs and Services Committee – City Hall, Room 211 at 7:00 p.m.
• Thursday, Sept. 19 – Community Meeting - Ed Center, Room 111 at 7:00 p.m.
• Monday, Sept. 23 – Community Meeting - F.A. Day School, Auditorium at 7:00 p.m.
• Tuesday, Sept. 24 – Council on Aging - Senior Center, at 7:30 p.m.
• Thursday, Oct. 24 - Community Meeting - Ed Center, Room 111 at 7:00 p.m.
• Thursday, Nov. 21 - Community Meeting - Ed Center, Room 111 at 7:00 p.m.
• Thursday, Dec. 12 - Community Meeting - Ed Center, Room 111 at 7:00 p.m.

RELATED:

Newton Eyes 6 Sites For New Senior Center

Newton Senior Center Update: Mayor Fuller

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).