The new Monroe Township Senior Center has a room named after Irwin Nalitt, in honor of the former councilman and founding member of the Commission on Aging. MONROE — Eight years of planning and construction finally wrapped up June 26 with the official opening of the longawaited Monroe Township Senior Center.
The $9.8 million facility at Applegarth and Halsey Reed roads was the last leg of a trio of improvements to the township’s facilities. The expansions of the Monroe Township Public Library, located in the municipal complex, and the Monroe Community Center, Monmouth Road, preceded the completion of the senior center.
“In 2005, all three facilities were operating well-above capacity, which drove the need for these improvements,” Business Administrator Wayne Hamilton said. “At that time, the mayor and council determined that the order of the projects would be the library, then the community center, and then the new senior center.”
Until last month, the senior center was housed in the lower level of the municipal building, but it could no longer accommodate the needs of the township’s senior population, officials said.
“Operating a senior center and transportation division in a 6,500-square-foot space with 13,000 registered seniors presented extraordinary challenges,” Hamilton said. “Those challenges became an increasingly difficult task for the staff we had, and it will be extremely gratifying to see our seniors served in a suitably sized facility.”
The ability for seniors to have private meetings with counselors or representatives of the Middlesex County Surrogate’s Office — eliminating the need for seniors to travel to the county seat of New Brunswick — is one of the most important features of the new facility, Hamilton said.
“This facility will serve the needed privacy provisions for the counseling needs of our older residents,” Hamilton said.
The grand opening was held in the new senior center’s main room, named the Irwin Nalitt Meeting Room, in honor of the former township councilman and founding member of the Commission on Aging.
“Anybody who first gets involved in public service at the age of 70 is a role model,” state Sen. Linda Greenstein (D-NJ) said of Nalitt, who served on the council for 24 years before retiring in 2011 at age 93. “Irwin served this community for well over 20 years and has been an integral part of what happens here as a great strategist who is great on the issues and cares so much about his community.”
Nalitt was among those taking part in the senior center ribbon-cutting. “This will always be a tribute to you, and you will be remembered for years and years to come because of this room,” Greenstein said.
Monroe Township Office of Senior Services Director Bonnie Leibowitz said working in the Irwin Nalitt Meeting Room would be a “very special honor.”
“We are proud to come to work in this extraordinary building and share your name with others,” Leibowitz said.
In addition to social services, the new facility is expected to enable expanded programming, such as evening activities, cooking classes and other initiatives that may appeal to the senior community.
“We consider ourselves a melting pot of Monroe Township. So whether you live in an adult community or you live in a private home, you can come here and be part of the bigger picture,” Leibowitz said. “As we grow together and make a new history See the video and a new journey, I welcome www.gmnews.com you to share your ideas with us and our staff for us to consider.”
Monroe officials reflected on how far the township has come in the past couple decades, noting that the journey from a rural community to a bustling suburban town with a rural nature has culminated by the completion of the senior center.
“When [Mayor Richard Pucci] came to Monroe, the township didn’t have an identity,” Council President Gerald W. Tamburro said. “The mayor had a vision to bring a library, a community center and a senior center to the township, and each one of these facilities are class facilities with programs and personnel that you can’t find in any town.”
Pucci, who has been mayor since 1988, said those serving on the governing body have had the opportunity to shape the town into what it looks like today.
“Monroe did not just appear overnight — it took a lot of people with direction, knowledge and experience to put a team together,” he said. “When I first came to Monroe, we were the only municipality in Middlesex County without a library, and our post office was made up of five mailing addresses, none of which were Monroe. … It was a rural community of 17,000 people, ready to grow.”
Pucci said Monroe has built some of the “finest programs” for residents, including “outstanding” retirement communities whose residents could enjoy the services of a senior center.
“We are all together as one community, although we may have different religions or political beliefs,” Pucci said. “But we understand that caring and compassion have no barriers, and that’s what this new facility is all about.”