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New center for seniors wins praise
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John Serenko of Austintown plays cards at the new Austintown Senior Citizen Center at 100 Westchester Drive.
AUSTINTOWN
Calling it a “dream come true” and “answer to our prayers,” area senior citizens praised the new center designed just for them.
Federal, state and local representatives joined residents for the official opening and ribbon cutting of the Austintown Senior Citizen Center, 100 Westchester Drive, Wednesday morning.
“This is wonderful. I’ve been active all my life, but when you become older, you’re limited in the things you can do,” said Ann Clark of Austintown, adding the center is an “answer to our prayers.”
Clark was joined by Amanda Gregory, who also expressed excitement for the 5,000-square-foot center.
“The computer and exercise yoga classes are very interesting to me,” Gregory said. “It’s something I always wanted for Austintown, and to see it come true, it’s like a dream. I’m happy seniors won’t be as bored and can come together in a relaxed atmosphere.”
The center will be open from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Monday through Friday, and Celtic Healthcare will provide free meals Monday, Wednesday and Friday, said township Trustee Lisa Oles.
Celtic has received a grant from the Area Agency on Aging to provide free meals to seniors at multiple locations in the Valley, she said.
“This has the potential to expand,” Oles said. “We encourage seniors to tell all of their friends and bring them down here to play cards and do puzzles. We want to plan trips, too, but we can only do these things with membership.”
At this time, there is not a membership fee to use the senior center, she added.
The Westchester building was donated to the township by Walter Terlecky, and the township had rented the space with the stipulation that the money generated from it had to go to the recreation of the residents, Oles said.
In December, a medical billing company ended its lease early, and the trustees decided to pursue the senior center at that location.
“We had some building costs to make sure the building is up to code,” but the furnishings were donated, Oles said.
Austintown officials were accompanied by U.S. Rep. Charlie Wilson, state Sen. Joe Schiavoni, state Rep. Ron Gerberry, county Auditor Michael Sciortino and county Commissioner John McNally.