Newton Residents Fight Against Plans For Senior Center

NEWTON, MA — A group of Newton residents are fighting back against the city’s plans to build a new Center for Active Living at the location of the existing Senior Center, a historic building constructed in the 1930s.

More than 500 residents have signed a petition sponsored by Neighbors for a Better Newtonville (NBN) and many have written to Mayor Ruthanne Fuller and the Newton City Council asking that the exterior portions of the historic Senior Center building be preserved as part of its renovation and expansion.

In response to residents’ concerns, a formal nomination to landmark the current Senior Center has been submitted to the Newton Historical Commission. The City Councilors on the application application are Tarik Lucas and Julia Malakie, and the NHC members supporting the nomination include NHC Chair Peter Dimond, Amanda Park, and Mark Armstrong.

“Newton needs to pay more attention to its architectural heritage,” said Fred Arnstein, President of NBN, in a statement. "In daily life, focusing on our immediate tasks and concerns, buildings and their surroundings become just background. It’s when they disappear that we notice how the street, the city, has been diminished. Once this building is gone, it will never come back.”

The existing Senior Center building was constructed as the Newtonville Branch Library in 1938, a Depression-era Public Works Administration project, and was the largest of the city’s branch libraries. At its dedication in 1939, an array of prominent officials were present and the event was headlined by Robert Frost, who read his poem, “Mending Wall,” lines of which are contained in the building’s stained glass windows.

"Everyone is in favor of a new senior center. the issue is the preservation of one of the city’s great historic resources,” said Dimond. “Hopefully things can work out where the building is saved and the city gets a wonderful new center for seniors. We would like to see this as a win-win for everyone."

The city’s current plans for the building were outlined in Fuller’s community update on Thursday, in which she explained why the city made the decision to build a new facility rather than upgrade the existing facility.

"Hundreds of residents, elected and appointed officials, older residents and others who will use the new center were involved in the decision on whether to preserve the existing building with an addition or to build a new facility,” said Fuller.

"The near unanimous decision was to design and construct a building that fits well in Newtonville and is designed exactly to meet the needs of the users for the next 100 years: age-friendly, accessible, laid out well, barrier-free, with a façade that welcomes our older residents and attracts new users,” she continued.

According to reasons outlined by the Council on Aging, Design Review Committee, Public Facilities and Programs and Services Committees of the City Council, and Commission on Disability, the building cannot feasibly be preserved for the following reasons:

• The main floor of the existing building is six feet above grade and would require ramps, stairs, and lifts at the entrance.

• The existing building is located in a position that would make an addition extend much further into the rear of the site , bringing it closer to the direct abutters, and would mean there could not be a separate vehicular entrance and exit.

• Renovating instead of rebuilding would add years to the project schedule and would displace senior programming for a longer period during construction.

• The renovation and addition option requires a larger building site footprint, reducing green space, onsite parking, and other site amenities.

• The modifications to the existing building, required to make it age-friendly, welcoming, accessible, and barrier-free, would significantly modify the exterior so that the potential end product would not be something that most people would find attractive or appropriate.

• Renovating the building is estimated to cost $5 million to $6 million more than rebuilding.

"We're looking forward to working with the Newton Historic Commission and the community to create an age-friendly, welcoming, fully accessible building that incorporates the stained glass windows and other historically significant elements from the existing Senior Center,” said Fuller in response to resident concerns. "We also look forward to using traditional design elements and building materials to create a new building that fits well in Newtonville."

The city’s designs are set to be presented at a community meeting on Thursday, Feb. 17. To register for the Zoom meeting in advance, click here.