Seniors frustrated over lack of progress on a new center
Makrouhi Terzian has been waiting for 12 years. So have Shirley Buck and Rick Zammitti and Verna Thayer and John Ruffing.
''We have been waiting quietly and patiently in good faith," said Terzian. ''But after a while, you get tired of waiting. At this point, I think we need to start screaming to get anyone to listen to us."
Terzian and the others are part of a growing number of senior citizens in Lexington who are growing weary of the wait for a new senior center and promise to start sounding off at the ballot box, supporting candidates who keep senior issues at the forefront.
Currently, Lexington seniors use the basement in the Muzzey condominium complex on Massachusetts Avenue as their senior center. On Monday, voters will be asked to decide on an article that will fund $40,000 to study if the current site can be renovated or if seniors would be best served elsewhere.
But before the long-anticipated senior center can become a reality, supporters will have to overcome logistical obstacles and competing interests in a built-up town that has few suitable properties.
''It's embarrassing to live 50 years in a town that does not have an adequate senior center," said Jerry Brown, one of the concerned residents who utilize services at the center. ''Lexington is supposed to be so affluent, and our center . . . it is so inadequate."
In the basement of the condominium complex, books line the shelves in the brightly painted rooms that make up the Lexington Senior Center. On a recent morning, some residents formed a circle in one room, doing stretching exercises, while other seniors sat quietly doing crossword puzzles or reading.
But the low ceilings and small common rooms make the space feel cramped, especially when 40 to 50 residents show up for a program. Computers are tucked into corners, and three tables crowd a tiny conference room, one of five small rooms that make up the center.
''There are no windows," said Jean Lee. ''It's depressing that you can't see the sunshine or open a window up on a nice day. We are sent down to the basement. It's not right."
Seniors complain that the lack of a ramp down to the basement is a fire hazard, especially for seniors with walkers or wheelchairs who couldn't use the elevator or stairs in an emergency. The winding staircase poses a problem even to some healthy seniors.
''I have seen people really struggle up and down those stairs," said Terzian. ''They don't want to walk all the way down to use the condominium's elevator, but it's hard for them to get up and down to where all the activities are."
Lauren McSweeney, director of the Lexington Senior Center since 2001, said space has always been an issue.
''The programs are limited because we don't have much space to work with," said McSweeney. ''But I think this is an issue of location. If we could find a piece of land or space that makes sense, that's convenient and that is not used by someone else, I don't think we would be having this conversation. This is an issue of location."
A report released last month by the Senior Center Action Plan Committee showed just that. The committee reconsidered 15 potential sites that have been recommended since 1990, but declared most of them unlikely, impractical, not available, or too expensive.
Only four potential sites remain: the former Harrington School, the Merriam Street parking lot, the former Munroe School, or the Muzzey playing fields.
But even before a formal plan was discussed, each of the proposals drew sharp criticism from residents: Parents of young athletes said they were unwilling to surrender the Muzzey playing fields; seniors were told they would have to wait 10 to 15 years before the former Harrington School site is not needed by the schools; artists who now use the space at the Munroe School for the Center for the Arts have started a campaign against moving them out; and the Merriam Street site would be the most expensive option because it would need a $2 million parking garage.
Jeffrey Lipsky, executive director of the Munroe Center for the Arts, said although he understands the needs of seniors, arts shouldn't be sacrificed either.
''We have been an arts center in town for over 12 years and although the seniors deserve a place, I don't think that we should displace one great organization to help another," said Lipsky. ''There are no simple solutions and we appreciate the frustrations of the seniors, but the Munroe Arts Center offers a lot of great services to young families and students."
Lipsky said that Munroe was considered for a senior center in 2001, but that the plan was tabled because the site has insufficient parking, is not handicapped-accessible, and has major traffic problems.
The Munroe Center has started a letter-writing campaign and devoted space on its website to keep the building a place for the arts.
But seniors have also become vocal.
''We have been at this for 12 years, and this 'hunt for a site' is more of an excuse than a real priority," said John Ruffing.
''I just retired a few months ago and the more I learn about the center from my new friends . . . the more I realize it's time to speak up," said Verna Thayer. ''There is power in numbers and there are more seniors coming in every day."
According to the US Census, 20 percent of Lexington's 30,355 residents are over the age of 65. Another 10 percent is over the age of 55. McSweeney and other experts on senior issues say those numbers are only going to grow as baby boomers hit retirement age. That generation of seniors will demand better care and more options, and that's one reason an investment in the senior center makes so much sense, said McSweeney.
According to the Senior Center Action Plan Committee, a new senior center would require a minimum of 28,000 square feet to meet all the needs of the programs over the next 15 years. The building's current 10,000 square feet is far too small, and to complicate the situation, a deed restriction limits the time the center can be used.
Not being able to use the space any day after 4:30 p.m. or on weekends prevents the town from using Muzzey as a community meeting space, or seniors from having night activities.
''That is the time that most widows, like me, are really looking for activities," said Jerry Brown.
The Board of Selectmen has taken the Senior Center Action Plan Committee's report under advisement. Some seniors, like Council on Aging member Shirley Buck, hope this report does more than gather dust.
''This is a project that needs leadership," said Buck. ''It is important to have that, because it can be a very decisive issue . . . one that sets young against old."
''I have been very fortunate to see Burlington, Bedford, Belmont, Stoneham" build senior centers. ''Look at all the towns around us. We are truly the only ones doing nothing," said John Fedorochko. ''Overall, we talk a good game but we're not backing it up. Now, it's time to back it up." 