Seniors concoct dream centers

A wish list for two new Raleigh centers in the works provides grist for planners

RALEIGH -- A swimming pool. Space for art and choral music. A billiards table. High levels of security. And assured access for people with disabilities.

Those were just a few of the suggestions offered up by potential users at a public hearing Monday for Raleigh's new senior centers.

Some of the requests -- such as access for people with disabilities -- got guarantees. Others, such as the swimming pool, won't be possible within the $7.7 million in bonds that voters approved for the project, Raleigh senior parks planner Stephen Bentley told about 100 people gathered at Hayes Barton United Methodist Church.

"Every single person will not get what they want," Bentley said. Instead, planners will try to please as broad a spectrum of people as possible.

One way of meeting the range of requests will be multipurpose rooms equipped for different needs, said planners, including the architecture and design firms that are working in the centers.

"There really is no magic formula as to what a senior center is,"said Douglas Gallow, of Lifespan Design Studio, an Ohio firm that specializes in senior-center design.

The centers, one next to the current Whitaker Mill Senior Center and the other in Millbrook Exchange Park, are scheduled to open in 2011. Despite some complaints heard at the meeting, the time span is necessary for getting comment as well as designing, planning, building and staffing the pair of centers, Bentley said.

During the two-hour meeting, participants also spoke up for elevators, walking trails, volleyball courts, nutrition training, environmentally friendly construction, more activities for men and movie screenings with discussions afterward.

Planners reassured a speaker who requested low-cost maintenance and green construction.

"That's a high priority," said Kristen Hess, a principal of HH Architecture.

Some expressed loyalty to the current Whitaker Mill Senior Center, which is beloved despite its limited space.

"You need to know that we like what we have going on right now," Kathy Cunningham said to applause.

Nationally, some newer centers for older people have included Starbucks-like cafes to attract people turned off by traditional bingo-and-shuffleboard offerings. But, Cunningham said, such upscale enticements won't work for many of Whitaker Mill members.

"A cafe is not in their budget," she said.