Diana Stricker Photo
Town Planner Harry Smith at P& Z.
The long-awaited Senior Center is one step closer to reality. The Planning and Zoning (P&Z) Commission unanimously approved plans Thursday to renovate and expand the Community House to include a Senior Center.
The next step for the architects will be estimating the cost of the project, and seeking funding from the Board of Finance and the Representative Town Meeting. If approved, construction could begin in the fall and take about one year.
Diana Stricker Photo
Thomas Arcari, of Quisenberry Arcari Architects LLC of Farmington, presented the plans during a public hearing last month. The commissioners discussed the proposal and asked Town Planner Harry Smith to prepare a resolution.
“I think the use is a great concept,” Charles Andres, who chairs the commission, said of the project last month.
Following additional discussion Thursday night, Smith read the resolution which included some conditions for approval. For example, one condition states the proposed 5‑foot wide pedestrian path along the western edge of the parking area should be widened to at least 8 feet.
The commissioners voted 5 – 0 to approve the plans. Commissioner Marci Palluzzi, who is also a member of the town’s Public Building Commission, recused herself from voting.
Multi-Use Facility
The Community House on Church Street will become a multi-use facility with senior programs on the upper floor, and recreation programs remaining on the lower floor. The entire building including the gym will be renovated, and an elevator will be added.
Plans for the combined facility, with a new addition on the upper floor, were presented to the public during various meetings last year.
There will be a new parking configuration, which will provide 102 spaces including five handicapped spaces. There are currently 87 spaces. Plans call for a two-way drive that will enter from Church Street and new sidewalks.
There will also be improvements to the landscaping and drainage.
Traffic Engineer David Sullivan of Milone & MacBroom Inc. in Cheshire, told the commissioners last month that the anticipated increase in traffic will not result in a decrease in the level of service at any of the intersections. Sullivan did make several recommendations for improving pedestrian crossings.
Recreation programs at the Community House will have to be moved to other locations during construction.
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Posting on behalf of Genevieve Goff:
To P&Z members,
Twenty some years from now, [when you are a senior citizen using canes, crutches, or even worse in a wheelchair] and you decide to attend an event at the new Senior Center, good luck!! Assuming you find a parking space, even though it is a long walk to the center, and you get in line behind several other wheelchairs to use the one small elevator, so by the time you get to the second floor, you are late for your event, I hope you will remember that we seniors DID NOT WANT WHAT YOU HAVE JUST APPROVED.
We wanted a one floor only, no stairs, slopes, or elevators. No children running around, and plenty of parking spaces near the building, with not much traffic nearby.
Since I'm almost 90, I regret that I will probably have more difficulty trying to enjoy the many wonderful events the current staff provides.