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Friends of the Senior Center to host fund-raiser Aug. 3

Date: 7/11/2012

July 11, 2012

By Debbie Gardner

debbieg@thereminder.com

WESTFIELD — As plans for construction of the new Senior Center on Noble Street continue to take shape, the Friends of the Westfield Senior Center are working hard to ensure the building's inside will be ready to service the city's elders when construction is complete.

On Aug. 3, the group will host its third fund-raiser, serving up pancakes from 7:30 to 10 a.m. at St. John's Church, 60 Broad St. Tickets to the breakfast are $5 per person, with children younger than 5-years-old admitted free.

Advanced tickets can be purchased in advance at the Senior Center, 40 Main St., or at the Keenan Law Offices, 48 Elm St., Suite 3. They will also be available at the door.

Friends Membership Chair Sue Szenda said the group deliberately planned this fund-raiser for a Friday morning, hoping the early time slot might entice individuals to stop by for some freshly made pancakes on their way to work.

Szenda said the 501c3 non-profit organization has set an ultimate goal to raise $500,000 for the amenities the new center would need to make it a destination for the city's elder population — furnishings and kitchen equipment, pool tables, fitness center machines and more.

"Once we start the capital campaign, we think [$500,000] is a reasonable goal," Senior Center Executive Director Tina Gorman told Reminder Publications. "We've seen other senior centers in the area achieve that."

Gorman said the Friends group — which recently celebrated its first anniversary by sending membership renewal notices with the help of the Westfield Gas & Electric Company — is soft-pedaling its fund-raising for now, concentrating on fun events such as an upcoming pancake breakfast until all of the hurdles to construction have been cleared.

Gorman said construction on the new Senior Center is making progress. The title search on the Noble Street property has been completed, and the site survey has begun.

"There is an encroachment on the property and we are in the process of getting that resolved," she said.

Once the survey is clear, Gorman said the land-taking proposal must be sent to the state Attorney General's office for review, and then it can be processed through Probate Court.

Because Mary Noble originally willed the property in question to the Westfield Housing Authority, the city must receive approval from the court to take a portion of it for the new senior center.

Gorman added that the Friends don't want to start the capital campaign for the new center until the property has been secured.

However, she said, the senior center committee has moved forward to hire Dietz & Company Architects of Springfield to begin working on designs for the new center. Dietz will work in collaboration with Courtstreet Architects of Newton while the legal issues are being resolved.

"Courtstreet has experience designing senior centers," Gorman said. "When the committee toured several senior centers across the state [they saw] two by Courtstreet [and] were very impressed by their designs."

She said the budget for Phase II of the center, which includes this design work, is $90,000, some of which will come from an appropriation previously approved by the City Council, and some from the senior center building fund.



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