Improved Facilities for Senior Citizens

Lexington has been talking about building a new Senior Citizen’s Center for several years now, in clear recognition that the current Senior Center is no longer adequate .  Last year the city hired a consultant team to evaluate sites for a new Center, and this year’s budget allocates $5 million for the first part of the required capital outlay.  The consultants reported to Council on January 29th and February 26th.  At the June Social Services Committee meeting, the YMCA came forward with the draft outline of an alternative proposal, a possible partnership with the city to provide Senior programming at YMCA locations.

The YMCA proposal would add dedicated space for Senior Center operations during the day to the three existing YMCAs, and would include similar space in a new YMCA to be constructed in Hamburg.  The draft proposal would reduce the capital outlay required on behalf of the city for construction and would eliminate the annual cost of operation for the city.  You can read a related article here.  Many cities have formed similar partnerships to build and run recreational facilities.  These include: Morgan Hill, CA; National City, CA; Camden, SC; and Lauderhill, FL.

Numerous Seniors raised concerns about the proposal, primarily on the grounds that they prefer a single facility dedicated to Seniors.  After extensive discussion at the Council meeting on July 9th, Council voted to continue planning for one free-standing Senior Center operated by the city with possible satellite locations operated in partnership with the YMCA.  You can read a report of that discussion here.

All agree that we need plans to improve on the ways we meet the needs and interests of our senior population. The council will continue to consider the best ways to do so.