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Date: 11/9/2021
LUDLOW – After months of planning, the Ludlow Senior Center celebrated the grand opening of its new building with a ribbon cutting ceremony on Nov. 5.
Council on Aging Executive Director Jodi Zepke said the new building is a complete upgrade from the old one.
“The entire building is an upgrade. We were essentially in the basement of a 120-year-old building and most of my seniors either went to junior high or high school there. We outgrew the space, and it just was not senior friendly,” she said.
Zepke recapped the process in opening the building, which began in 2014.
“We started this process in 2014 when we first started researching because it takes a while. Our Friends group actually did our feasibility study and then we presented that to the town. The town then put together the building committee, the committee met and did its due diligence by looking at every piece of property in this town. We then had a special town meeting for the precinct members to vote to put it on the ballot, then we went to the ballot and it passed,” she said.
Despite construction occurring during the onset of COVID-19, Zepke said the work continued.
“Construction took about a year; COVID actually did not hold up our project. At first when COVID was really bad, the building was not enclosed so they did not have to follow a lot of the spacing guidelines because it was open. Once the building was closed, COVID was not as bad,” she said.
Once the construction was finished, Zepke said the center slowly introduced people to the new building starting in April.
“We moved in in the middle of February, we opened our doors to the general public in June but in April and May we had done things by appointment, we had done tours, we did the exercise room, we started to slowly add programming. We pretty much brought our programming back up to pre-COVID in September and now we are starting to add more programming,” she said.
At the time of writing, Zepke said masks were required in the building.
“At first, we had the mask mandate by the governor and once the governor said no more masks, we could not force anybody to wear masks and then I came down with COVID and then a couple of my seniors came down with it, although we did not get it from each other, so we put the mask mandate back in place,” she said.
Zepke added she was thinking about lifting the mask mandate in November but would put it back immediately if numbers begin to rise again.
Despite closing the building during COVID-19, Zepke said her team was busier than ever.
“We worked all through COVID, the building was closed but we were working our butts off, we were busier then than ever.
Between vaccination appointments, we were doing grab and go, so we were doing about 200 to 225 per day for that and then we were preparing to move,” she said.
Since opening the building, Zepke said they have been building back programming including exercise classes and some art classes.
“We have Tai Chi, Boomer Boot Camp, yoga, line dancing, belly dancing, all of which are very popular, we actually have a waiting list for our Boomer Boot Camp classes. We have started some art classes and we have a watercolor pencil class, which also has a wait list,” she said.
Along with regular activities, Zepke said she is planning to add more support groups in the future.
“Starting in November we are starting some caregiver support and some grief support. We found through COVID that was one thing people were really looking for, so we are starting a grief support group, caregiver support and eventually a memory café as well, we actually got a grant to do a memory café,” she said.
Zepke said the Senior Center is also continuing its meals program, with meals in person Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday and meals to-go on Wednesday to continue to reach seniors that may not feel comfortable eating in person yet or are unable to do so.
One of the additions to the new building is a café that visitors are greeted with as they enter.
“We called it the lounge in the other building, it was kind of a place where people hung out and we had somebody pouring coffee. We really wanted the café model here and they named it, it’s called the Corner Café, it is in the front of the building, it is a nice spot to sit in the morning and when it is nice out, we actually have furniture for the patio, which is awesome,” Zepke said.
Eventually, Zepke said the café will include bakery items and a soup of the day once the logistics are sorted out, so the café does not conflict with the meals program.
Zepke added she is happy to go to work at the new building every day.
“I drive down the street every day and say, ‘I can’t believe that is where I go to work.’ It is amazing, it is such a beautiful building, I am still not quite used to it. When I walk in here, I still see everything that needs to be done, but it is nice to have windows, we did not have windows in the other building, it is nice to have fresh air and I think the seniors really enjoy it as well,” she said.
“Ludlow should be very proud of themselves that they passed this project because it really is an amazing building,” she said.
Ludlow’s new Senior Center is located at 228 State St. and can be reached at 583-3565.