Town Of Reading To Host Senior/Community Center Public Forum Tuesday

READING, MA — The Town of Reading is reminding residents about Tuesday's public forum regarding the future of the Reading Senior Center/Community Center and senior and community programming.

The forum will take place at 7 p.m. at The Pleasant Street Center, 49 Pleasant Street. Select Board Chair Mark Dockser and Town Manager Fidel Maltez are expected to lead a broad discussion where community members can offer feedback and ideas.

The public forum comes on the heels of a recently-released 62-page report by UMass Boston Gerontology Institute consultants about the wishes and needs of the community relating to the future of the Pleasant Street Center and senior and community programming in Reading.

According to the Daily Times Chronicle, the report — which incorporated demographic data and feedback from forums and a public survey — determined that the Pleasant Street Center, housed in a 140-year-old former fire station, and senior services are inadequate given Reading's aging population.

The Daily Times Chronicle reported that another UMass Boston Gerontology Institute team arrived at a similar conclusion in a 2017 report.

Based on the most recent public feedback, the institute concluded that residents want transparency as the town moves forward with its plans to upgrade senior center and community center facilities and programming, upgrades residents believe are badly needed.

“Community forum participants highlighted the need for more information about the proposed new building prior to making a decision," the consultants reported. "As well, residents want to know how this initiative fits into the existing network of assets in the community."

The consultants also reported: "Findings from this study are clear that additional community space in Reading is desired and that to meet the diverse elder and human service needs of the population, different space is needed. Specifically, findings from this study inform the types of space that will accommodate the future needs of Reading and sustain it as a community in which residents have the opportunity to age well."

While roughly half of the survey respondents said they preferred an all-ages community center, existing Pleasant Street Center users want to carve out "senior only" space within the facility, according to the consultants.

The UMass Boston team said upgraded senior facilities and programming make sense based on the demographic data it collected, which suggests that nearly 26 percent of the town's existing 25,236-person population currently is over 60 years old, while another 15 percent of the town's residents are at least 50 years old.

The UMass Boston consultants said projections indicate that by 2030, roughly one out of three Reading residents will be age 60 or older —23 percent of the town's population will be between the ages of 60 and 79, with an additional 6 percent will be age 80 and older.