In New Facility, Lakeville Senior Center Braces for Baby Boomers

The Lakeville Senior Center already has nearly 1,000 members who can participate in the 200-plus monthly activities that range from Zumba to bus tours to legal aide workshops.

But the numbers are expected to grow and the center moved to a new facility in October that can accommodate the continually growing senior population.

“It’s a more defined space,” Brett Altergott, Lakeville’s director of parks and recreation, told the Star Tribune. “Before, if you wanted to have multiple programs, it’d be like being in corners.”

The new facility is located in Lakeville's $1.1 million Heritage Center, which was transformed from the old police station and also houses the Lakeville Historical Society and the Lakeville Yellow Ribbon program.

Membership is open to Lakeville residents age 50 and up (for $18 per year) and to non-residents for $30. It's popular among residents like Betty Keohokalole, who prefers its Spanish classes to those she took at a community college.

“I wanted to learn something at my own pace — I wanted it to be enjoyable,” she told the Star Tribune. “And going back to school was not enjoyable. I had already been to college, already got my degree, so it wasn’t necessary for me to do it that way.”

Keohokalole said going to the senior center gives her something to look forward to.

“Socializing — I think for everyone, it’s the key to avoid loneliness and depression,” she said.