Springdale bond approval would put new Senior Center downtown

Springdale Senior Center renderings. (Courtesy Core Architects)

Editor's Note: This is the fourth in a five-part series on the proposed Springdale bond issue.

SPRINGDALE -- Bean bag baseball, bingo, dancing, field trips, the director ...

People at the city's Senior Center on Wednesday listed the many items they love about the center on Park Street, and they shared ideas about what they would like to see in a new facility.

A free membership is available to residents older than 60, but not required, said Lori Proud, director of the center. The center staff and volunteers have never turned anyone away, she said.

A new center is planned and ready for construction if Springdale voters approve a bond issue that would bring as much as $16.25 million for construction and furnishing the center, said Mayor Doug Sprouse.

Residents will vote May 9 on a bond package that also will provide money for street improvements, park improvements, a new fire station and reorganizing the city's debt from previous bond issues, if all the questions on the ballot are approved.

The new, 40,000-square-foot, two-story Senior Center would sit on East Emma Avenue in the strip of land between The Jones Center and the old Washington school building.

The city in November bought two houses on the land for a total of $500,000 to make space for the center. The houses have been removed.

Proud said the current center is 20,000 square feet comprised of several buildings put together as the center needed more room.

"We are at capacity," she said. "We have no room for growth. We are landlocked."

The parking lot was full at lunchtime Monday -- as it most often is, Proud said.

"We're growing," Sprouse said. "The building has served us very well, but we need to be able to continue to grow."

Springdale's population growth brings with it an increased number of seniors in the city, Sprouse said. And more people are living longer, he added. By 2030, one in six people in the world will be 60 or older, according to a report from the World Health Organization.

Sprouse said the city would build the new center with room to grow.

"We don't want it filled, packed the first time we open the doors," he said.

Proud said the dining room at the new center will seat 400 people.

She said center staff currently plans for up to 150 people for lunch. On Thursday, they had to put up more tables, she said during a phone call.

"We need to remember this generation has given their time and money to the city," said Colby Fulfer, the mayor's chief of staff. "They've paid the city taxes for many years."

Downtown

The seniors and staff have been asked for their input on the new center. An open main room -- like the center has now -- is not negotiable, they agreed.

That open area is what makes the center a success, Proud said. Seniors gather there for cards, dancing and making friends who become like family.

Sprouse said the seniors also have made it very clear they want to remain downtown. City leaders said a revitalized Emma Avenue, with lots of activities, is a great place for seniors to gather.

Seniors who live in the downtown area have realized they might not have to drive as the streets and surrounding neighborhoods become more walkable, Sprouse said.

Proud noted outdoor porches are something new for the Senior Center. An early rendering of the new center shows two outdoor porches upstairs and a ground-floor garden area. The drawing also shows a covered drive-through area for seniors to exit or board vehicles.

Many seniors live in apartments, with no place to get outdoors, she added.

"We're excited for the opportunity to bring open access for seniors and new activities," Proud said. "Our motto is: If you rest, you rust."

Shortly after projects of the 2018 bond were started, the city commissioned a needs assessment, which helped determine the location, size and spaces for a senior center, Sprouse said.

The City Council in September hired Core Architects to design the center for 6% of the total cost of construction. The renderings of the building were provided by Core. The council on Tuesday approved a $32,000 contract with Buffalo Builders to serve as project construction manager.

Fulfer said city officials want to be ready to move forward with construction soon after residents vote. Spending money on design work for the Senior Center in September was a bit of a gamble for the city because voters wouldn't be asked to approve the bonds until May.

The city needed plans and cost estimates to put before voters, he said.

Mike Gilbert, chief operating officer of Buffalo Builders, said the company would void the contract if the bond proposal doesn't pass. The city would owe nothing, Gilbert said.

"I think the Senior Center is an important project," Gilbert said. "I'm 63. And, personally, I'm invested in downtown."

The current Senior Center is a block south and across the street from Luther George Park. The city plans to break ground next month on park renovation. The land where the Senior Center now sits will be open for new development, said Patsy Christie, director of the city's Planning Department.

Springdale's Senior Center is the only one in Northwest Arkansas owned and operated by a city, Proud said. Most centers are affiliated with Area Agency on Aging, a state agency dedicated to helping seniors live independent lives. The city took over the Senior Center in 2017 when it encountered financial problems.

Proud started working at the center 20 years ago. She said she saw only about 28 people a day when she started. Today, the center sees 100 to 150 a day, she said.

Feeling good

Muncie Ketttleman, 92, was showing pictures Monday of a bare-chested, well-muscled young soldier in Korea, bragging that was him 70 years ago.

Then he jumped to his feet, and told his table mates, "I've got to go exercise." He headed to the weight room at the back of the center.

The center offers some exercise classes and some simple weight equipment, Proud said.

Velma Shaffer said she would like to see bigger equipment like treadmills, elliptical machines and stationary bicycles.

The Senior Center offers activities to boost emotional, mental and physical health for seniors, Shaffer said.

"It helps you all over," she said.

"Then we need a pool, a hot tub and a sauna," Brad Baldridge said, citing the ultimate luxuries of his generation as a joke.

But it's no joke, Sprouse said. The needs study said the Senior Center needs a "wet area," he said.

The new Senior Center will have a state-of-the-art large commercial kitchen.

The kitchen will cook 300 or more meals for the Meals on Wheels program daily, which the Senior Center administers.

During a meal of taco salad and with donated bakery products to take home, the seniors shared their more secret wishes for the new center.

One man hoped bingo could be moved away from the live band for dancing because the music is too loud to hear the caller.

Winnie Paul wanted to make sure the Senior Center would still organize trips. "Big trips," she said. "They used to take a cruise."

Si Smith two-steps every Tuesday with his wife to the live music a Western band provides. Smith said he wants a larger dance floor -- preferably wooden.

Another woman asked for taller toilets in the bathrooms.

Seniors love the center as it is, but would like more programming and more people.

"After they eat, they run out," said Dale Shaffer. "They come and go. We really want more people to come."

The Shaffers shared a table Wednesday with Marilyn and Bob Campbell and Smith.

Each family said they come to the center nearly every day, but none had met previously.

And if a senior has a tragedy in his family, the others all offer support, Velma Shaffer said.

"The best thing about the Senior Center is you just sit down to meet people you don't know," Shaffer said. "There's everything from paupers to millionaires, and everyone gets along," Dale Shaffer said.