Glad to be back, local seniors are once again enjoying friendly conversations and raffles in the newly renovated and expanded Londonderry Senior Center.
With an approximately $350,000 expansion project just completed, the center recently reopened at 535 Mammoth Road, senior affairs director Cathy Bash said Monday.
While work on the project began in early July, seniors went to the Lions Club to continue to participate in activities. Returning to the expanded center has been like a homecoming, Bash said.
“This is home, everybody was like ‘when are we going back,’” Bash said Monday as dozens of seniors sat at tables as a raffle was getting underway. “This is great; it’s absolutely wonderful.”
She praised the Lions Club for being gracious and allowing the seniors to participate in activities at the club’s hall while work continued on the expansion project. Bash said it was important for seniors to continue with their regular activities as much as possible during construction.
Taking several months to complete, the project was begun to increase interior space at the aging and cramped facility. The project came in just under budget, said Steve Cotton, administrative support coordinator.
“We are just wrapping up some minor punch list items,” Cotton said last week.
Only a few more minor items needed to be completed, including adding some handles for a new restroom, Cotton said.
The contractor, Londonderry-based, Accurate Dimensions completed the work that included renovating the entire kitchen and adding a 10-foot by 20-foot section. The company also built an addition at the back of the building that dates to the 1930s. The new addition includes a new restroom, office for the director, storage room and three activity rooms, Cotton said
Walking through the new addition on Monday, Bash said the area is much more spacious and brighter, thanks to the addition of new lightning throughout the facility.
“This is all new, they had to dig it out and pour new foundations here,” she said on the tour of the new area.
There’s also a new mechanical room with new washers and dryers for cleaning items such as table clothes. Before the project was completed, Bash said she used to have to take the table clothes home to clean. In addition, a large storage area has been added and items such as Christmas decorations can now be stored in the room instead of an outdoor shed.
“So there’s no more trudging through the snow and ice to the shed,” she said.
Also with the new addition, Bash will have here own office and there’s even a room set aside as a health clinic for blood pressure screenings and diabetic support meetings, she said.
A luncheon for Londonderry firefighters with about 100 people attending was held on Saturday, Nov. 12.
And now Bash is getting is already planning for the Senior Center’s annual Christmas Luncheon, scheduled for Dec. 10.
“I have to work on entertainment for that today, I haven’t gotten that far yet,” she said.