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12:04:59 am Marion Voters Consider Senior Center

Categories: Marion

An informational survey was distributed in November to Marion voters to determine the future of a Marion Senior Center project.

In August, Marion Council on Aging director Susan Schwager said that several people expressed to her that they would like to see a Marion Senior Center, which would be a place specially dedicated to senior activities. With Ms. Schwager’s help and encouragement, Tabitha Tripp and Planning Board member Joseph Napoli wrote a letter to the Board of Selectmen, who agreed to devote their allotted Southeastern Regional Planning and Economic Development District (SRPEDD) hours to exploring the town’s interest in adding a senior center. A committee was formed to help determine the interests and needs of voters in regards to a senior center.

There are over 1,400 seniors in Marion, and the Council on Aging operates out of an office in the Town House. The COA has still been able to conduct some senior activities, like a monthly speaker-series, but these activities are generally planned ahead and have to be held in town buildings – like the Sippican School – large enough to accommodate the audience. With the space that a senior center would provide, there would be more options for drop-in activities.

After generating a list of questions using the SRPEDD hours, the survey was distributed to each registered voter in Marion. The questions in the survey are designed to determine whether voters are interested in a senior center, which Ms. Schwager prefers to call an “Older Adult Community Center”, and what kinds of senior center resources would appeal to them.

Ms. Schwager would like a place for seniors to have exercise, art, language, and computer classes. After visiting area senior centers, she is getting an idea of what the Marion Senior Center could look like and what it could offer to the growing rate of baby-boomer seniors. “A kitchen for Meals on Wheels would be great,” said Ms. Schwager. “Billiards… ping pong… just space enough to hold activities, either passive or active.”

Currently, there is no proposed location for a potential senior center, though there have been several suggestions, including renovating existing buildings and leasing a new building. Some have even suggested operating a senior center out of the Sippican School, but for Ms. Schwager, this would present too many logistic problems. “It’s not the best solution,” Ms. Schwager said. “There is limited parking and even more limited handicapped parking (at the Sippican School).” Other factors that would complicate putting a senior center in the school would include navigating the school security policies and the distance seniors would have to walk from the parking lot to the building.

Ms. Schwager, who has worked for the Marion Council on Aging for eleven years, is a part-time employee. If the senior center became a reality, the position would have to be full-time in order to fully operate the center. If Marion voters express interest in a senior center, this proposal would have to progress to town meeting, although Ms. Schwager doesn’t think it will be ready in time for the next Annual Town Meeting.

A study committee led by Chairperson Tabitha Tripp helped make the survey in order to fully determine the desires and needs of Marion voters. Even though Ms. Schwager thinks a senior center would be a valuable asset to the town, she is determined to respect the wishes of the voters. “If people don’t want it, I don’t want to cram it down their throats,” Ms. Schwager said. If the survey determines that voters are not currently interested in a senior center, she would table the issue.

Ms. Tripp is hopeful that the town will be interested in the project. “We hope it will be a go,” said Ms. Tripp. “Marion residents deserve to have their own center, and some people don’t want to leave town,” she said, citing the amount of seniors who have to travel to Mattapoisett and Rochester to attend social and well-being events.

Voters who received the survey have until November 30 to complete the form and return it to one of the five designated drop-off points: the Town House, the Elizabeth Taber library, Uncle Jon’s Café, the Marion General Store or Eastern Bank.

By Anne O’Brien-Kakley

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