HOPEWELL VALLEY: SAB unveils its ideas for new senior center

Seniors constitute 21.5 percent of the population of Hopewell Valley, according to the 2000 U.S. Census

By John Tredrea, Staff Writer
   About 100 senior citizens from Hopewell Township, Pennington and Hopewell Borough attended Monday night’s Hopewell Township Committee meeting to show support for a proposed full-service senior center that would serve all three communities.
   Leaders of the Hopewell Valley Senior Advisory Board (SAB), formed four years ago, delivered a presentation on the proposed center. A written handout defined a senior center as “a community focal point where older adults come together for services and activities that reflect their experience and skills, respond to their needs and interests, enhance their dignity, support their independence and encourage their involvement in and with the center and the community.”
   The PowerPoint presentation was made by SAB Chairman Larry Mansier and Vice Chairman Bill Farmer. They noted that the Valley’s current senior center, on Reading Street in Pennington, is 2,700 square feet. That center was originally built as a Boy Scout lodge over 50 years ago. Neither its restrooms nor its parking lot are ADA compliant (American With Disabilities Act), they said. The center has only one room, which they said is limiting because having only one activity at a time necessitates continual setting up and breaking down of equipment.
   Seniors constitute 21.5 percent of the population of Hopewell Valley, according to the 2000 U.S. Census. Messrs. Mansier and Farmer said surveys have shown many seniors want a full-service center here. They noted that all municipalities in Mercer County, excluding those in Hopewell Valley, have a full-service senior center. The average size of those centers is 10,000 square feet, they said.
   In 2008, Hopewell Township hired the Ewing-based firm of Clarke, Caton and Hintz to produce an architectural design for a senior center in Hopewell Valley. Estimated figures involved in that design include: 11,748 square feet and 12 rooms (five multi-purpose, five special purpose, two offices). The cost of the building if one story high would be $4.9 million. Cost of the building if two stories high would be $6 million. Two stories might be necessary if the tract of land chosen is too small for a one-story center.
   The estimated annual operating costs of the building are $210,000, including $131,000 for a director. Some of these costs could be covered by grants from outside sources, Messrs. Mansier and Farmer said.
   An additional cost would be land, purchased or leased. The most likely location, Messrs. Mansier and Farmer said, is a 13-acre tract in Pennington owned by Capital Health System (CHS).
   CHS may sell the land to the Hopewell Valley YMCA, which has said it is agreeable to putting both a community center and senior center, in separate buildings, on the site. All construction would have to be approved by the Pennington Planning Board after the Borough Council enacted whatever zoning changes are necessary, Messrs. Mansier and Farmer said.
   Mercer County matching grants could provide $1.5 million to the three municipalities toward the cost of the center. More funding could be obtained from state Small Cities Grants, legislative appropriations at the county, state and federal level and donations from foundations and individuals.
   The SAB is scheduled to make the same presentation to the Pennington and Hopewell Borough councils soon.
   Township Mayor Vanessa Sandom reacted enthusiastically to the presentation Monday night.
   ”This is a work in progress. One way or another, we’re going to get this done,” she said.