Four Options for a New Acton Senior/Community Center [VIDEO]

The Senior Center Building Committee (SCBC) and the Community Use Subcommittee held a public forum at Town Hall Monday, Feb. 13, to discuss a proposed new senior/community center in Acton.

Charles Aaronson of the SCBC showed a video comparing the current 5,000-square-foot Acton senior center with the fairly new 14,000-square-foot Northborough senior center. Aaronson's aim was to show that the Acton senior center is "out-of-date,” he said. The video was shown to the audience after the SCBC presented an overview of the proposed project.

The SCBC plans to request $140,000 at Town Meeting on April 2 for a design budget, with a total estimated project cost of $7.7 million. As far as defining the community center aspect of the project, it depends on which plan the Board of Selectmen will choose from the existing four plans laid out by the SCBC.

Option one functions as a senior center during the day and a community center during the late afternoon. Some portions of the building will always be dedicated to seniors; other portions are available for general community use.

• This plan would be a 17,000-square-foot facility at NARA Park and would need $140,000 in design funds.

Option two functions similarly to scenario one but dedicates a portion of the building to general community use.           

• This plan would be a 17,000-square-foot facility at NARA Park and would need $140,000 in design funds.

Option three would be a multi-stage construction project where the design would start off similar to options one and two but would be configured in way to allow for a future expansion of a large hall or a gymnasium.

• This plan would be a 17,000-square-foot facility at NARA Park and would need $140,000 in design funds.

Option four suggests starting from scratch. The building would be placed at a different location and would be a community center, almost like a YMCA, including a pool and a gym.

• This plan would require a new location and could possibly be a 30,000-square-foot facility.

• “If we were to go with option four – the YMCA kind of facility, I think we can still get some good plans and some budgets – but the $140,000 isn’t going to provided us with as much finish on the design package for a 30,000-square-foot facility compared to a 17,000-square-foot facility,” said Dean Charter, SCBC member.

According to Peter Ashton, chair of the SCBC, the final proposal will most likely be somewhat of a mix of options one, two and three.

“I think it’s safe to say that it will be some combination of the first three options unless the Selectmen feel strongly based on what the Community Use Subcommittee has to say about option four,” said Ashton.