C.R. needs a centralized senior center

By Dan Adams

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Albuquerque has seven (geographically distributed but with coordinated programming), my hometown of Shenandoah (pop 5,500) has one, and Iowa City has an excellent one.

What I'm talking about are facilities that provide centralized, low-cost, well-planned activities for active seniors, defined by me as people over 55 who want to do more than just “sit on the porch” in their “golden years.”

Indeed, most cities and towns have at least one senior center dedicated to enhancing the quality of life of older adults by providing places to congregate, make friends, pursue lifelong learning opportunities, learn about and improve health and fitness and - perhaps most importantly - socialize with peers and just have fun!

If it weren't for the 2008 flood, Cedar Rapids could be well on its way to having a superb facility, serving the needs of all age groups and not just older adults. Pre-flood, much planning had gone into a new 250,000-square-foot community center associated with “15 in 5” - the initiative to provide 15 new resources in Cedar Rapids in just five years. Since the flood, however, the initiative's plans have stalled - understandable, given the changing priorities the flood has forced upon us.

My model for what should exist has been available in Iowa City since 1981. Activities provided in the Iowa City/Johnson County Senior Center in Iowa City's beautifully renovated old downtown post office include: Various dances, weekly group walks, Friday afternoon movies at the Bijou (in the Memorial Union), bus trips to regional events, pickleball and classes/lessons in such diverse topics as watercolor, banjo, impressionist art, Spanish and pottery making. Additional group activities include a ukulele orchestra, a band, a drill and dance team, a theater group; chess, bridge and quilting clubs; games of all kinds and exercise classes of all types. See a calendar of events and activiy list at www.icgov.org/default/?id=1215

The centrally located Iowa City facility has a coffee shop with a large, comfortable lounge and newspaper reading area. And, although congregate meals are available, meal services are separately funded and operated and constitute just a portion of what the center has to offer.

Discounted parking is available via covered walkway, and bus transportation (city, campus, LIFT) is available at the doorstep. Annual membership fees are just $25 (slightly more for Iowa City non-residents), which provide access to most activities without additional cost.

Like Iowa City's center, Cedar Rapids' Witwer Senior Center's mission is to provide healthy aging and wellness programs along with nutrition services. At Witwer, however, space constraints are a major issue, and relocations necessitated by the flood have currently limited it to a dining room for the meal program, the Ecumenical Center Community Room and space in the Linn County History Center.

The greater Cedar Rapids area has approximately 45,000 people over the age of 55. Although facilities already exist for those who want to remain active (Ambroz Rec Center, Kirkwood Continuing Education, fitness centers, private lessons, etc.), they are geographically dispersed, often expensive, perhaps inaccessible for seniors who may be transportation challenged, and are all planned independently and not as coordinated activities.

Like Iowa City, Cedar Rapids should make the needs of active seniors a priority with a well-located facility where they can participate in multiple activities with minimal costs and transportation hassles. Although a

multigenerational community center would fulfill all the needs expressed here, it might be too grandiose a plan given post-flood priorities and a fragile economy.

If that is the case, plans should be scaled down to something achievable in the short-term with a goal of evolving it into the type of facility Cedar Rapids really deserves long-term.

Dan Adams of Cedar Rapids is a retired Rockwell-Collins engineer who has since visited senior centers in Albuquerque, Phoenix, and the Washington, D.C. area. He is a member of the long-term planning committee of the Witwer Senior Center. Comments on the senior center ideas may be made on the Facebook page for “Supporters of a Cedar Rapids Senior Center.”