By Lynne Cook Polcari

For years, Belmont residents have debated the merits of having a permanent senior center in town, a place where older citizens could exercise, socialize, play bridge, work on arts- and-crafts projects, attend health screenings, and perhaps take part in a daily meal program. There are 292 communities in Massachusetts that already have senior centers, and according to the state's Executive Office of Elder Affairs, they are well used.

The potential constituency for such a center in Belmont is large. Twenty percent of the town's residents, about 5,300 people, are considered senior citizens. For those who no longer have jobs or children to occupy their time, a central gathering place can be an antidote to loneliness.

In a recent letter to the Board of Selectmen, nine senior citizens wrote: "The topic of a senior center for Belmont is not new; in fact, many seniors have worked for and advocated its creation for nearly two decades... We have waited in the wings and have supported capital appropriations which benefited the town and other demographic groups... We deserve a chance to achieve our goal while we are still active enough to utilize the center's benefits and programs."

Appropriating space and money for such a center, however,  remains a problem. Seniors presently have a temporary center in the parish hall of Our Lady of Mercy church on Oakley Road, where the town leases space. But seniors who frequent it say the building is not suitable for long-term use. Its trussed roof, for example, makes it difficult to heat and cool and creates acoustical problems for those who are hard of hearing. The building, located on a slope, barely meets the requirements for handicapped accessibility. And the neighbors complain about cars parked all day on surrounding streets.

Seniors have reminded town officials that this location was intended to be temporary. In addition to having no elevator (which forces those who use walkers or wheelchairs to go outside the building and re-enter on another floor from the street), the building lacks a reception area, a proper-sized kitchen, an equipped exercise room, sufficient game room and small-group meeting space, even a sink in the arts-and-crafts room.

The town has first right of offer if Our Lady of Mercy's hall is ever put up for sale. But buying and renovating the building would be an expensive proposition, and some argue that it would still not meet all the expressed needs. Aside from the physical issues, there would be a parking problem unless we can purchase the parking lot from the church. Many believe that the proper course of action is to build a new center, designed specifically to meet senior needs.

Recently, the Council on Aging held a meeting to discuss the current status of the senior center. The featured speaker, Emmett Schmarzow, from the state's Executive Office of Elder Affairs, noted that those communities in Massachusetts that have created modern senior centers - with room for expansion - have seen a dramatic increase in usage.

Nava Niv-Vogel, Director of Belmont's Council on Aging, expects this would be true of Belmont, too. Daily attendance was up 30 percent last year at the temporary center. With the addition of more programs and classes, total visits increased by seven thousand in 2000.

A new center, she says, would enable the council to accommodate programs it currently cannot provide and to offer a wider range of services to those elderly most at risk. For example, the council would like to move the daily meal program from Belmont Manor to the senior center. This would allow our most fragile elderly, who do not drive, to enjoy the benefits of the programs and a meal by making only one trip.

Schmarzow noted that of the 292 senior centers in Massachusetts, only six serve a mixed population. The primary reason for this is site control. Ultimately, the seniors' primary concern is their ability to use the building how and when they desire.

Many seniors do not care to share a location with children. For them, the center is a place to enjoy the company of people their own age. Children on the site would raise noise and safety issues, particularly in the parking lot, where seniors fear they might accidentally harm a young child.

Other considerations are temperature control and space design. Generally, seniors need more warmth in the winter and less air-conditioning in the summer than younger people do.

Historically, one of the biggest obstacles to building a senior center was the lack of available land. Now, however, the town has the option of constructing something on the site of the former Kendall School on Beech Street. Built in 1914, this building was used as an elementary school until 1981, when it was closed due to declining enrollment. It was subsequently leased to a group of artists who established the popular Kendall Center for the Arts. This vibrant community arts center functioned as a place for residents of all ages to take art classes and also provided studio space for some of our local talent - a place to work as well as to exhibit their art.

Sadly, the center was destroyed by fire in 1999, and the site is currently an eyesore, an ugly reminder of that painful day when many local artists lost their life's work.

According to Lynne Doblin, a resident of the area and a Town Meeting Member, many neighbors support the concept of a combined senior and community center on the site and have circulated a petition to that effect. A well-designed center, they feel, would boost property values and might help fill some of the vacant storefronts on nearby Trapelo Road.

Belmont is now negotiating an insurance settlement on the property. How much money we will ultimately receive is unknown.

The insurance policy allows the town two options. Belmont is entitled to reimbursement for the costs of rebuilding a new building of "like kind and quality," such as a new school, community center, or municipal office building. If we choose not to rebuild, we are entitled to the market value of the building when it was destroyed, about $2 million.

A Special Town Meeting held in December allotted money for the initial design phase of a potential senior/community center on the Kendall site. Estimated costs were roughly $9.6 million to build a center of the same size as the Kendall School. The town hopes, through negotiations, to bridge the gap between the $2 million offered as market value and the $9.6 million estimate. Problems arise with the definition of "like kind and quality." Replacing a very old building creates room for disputes. For example, the insurers do not want to pay for air conditioning because the old building did not have it. However, we will be using modern and less expensive construction methods and want to get credit for that. Town leaders are optimistic that they can narrow the spread to a settlement that is satisfactory.

In the meantime, the town must make decisions about which populations are to be served if we rebuild.

Although seniors want a senior center, Selectman Bill Monahan feels that the town has very pressing needs and must prioritize. Last month, he questioned whether, if we do not get full insurance reimbursement; it made sense to build a center that would serve the needs of only a small group. Town Meeting will have to decide, he said.

Selectman Will Brownsberger favors building a community center that would primarily serve the needs of seniors and have space included for other compatible uses.

The feasibility study gave a general idea of what might be built on the site, noted Selectman Anne Marie Mahoney. However, a final decision must be made based on the eventual insurance settlement. When the town does a final prioritization of all building needs in the fall, a Kendall Center project will be evaluated within this framework.

Clearly there are problems with the present senior-center location. The questions are whether these problems warrant the building of a senior center on the Kendall School site and whether the building should be solely for the use of seniors.

It seems that budget shortfalls will always be with us, due to Proposition 2½. But a lump sum of money and an opportunity to use scarce vacant land to create a building for the benefit of the community is rare. We should not squander this chance.

Lynne Polcari is a Town Meeting Member who lives in Precinct 5.