The Centre Region Senior Center has seen a spike in participation since its move to the Nittany Mall Sept. 1.
For nearly 30 years, the center occupied a space below the Fraser Street Parking Garage, but it ended its lease more than a year prematurely in light of construction of the Fraser Center and the resulting lane closure.
“We see a lot more people just stopping in to check us out and a lot of those people who have stopped in are now participants,” said Niki Tourscher, program manager at the Centre Region Parks and Recreation Authority, which oversees the senior center with the Centre County Office of Aging.
In the two months leading up to the move, the center had 127 participants in July and 115 participants in August, many of whom took part in programs on a daily basis.
From August to the end of September, about a month after the center moved into its interim location in the Nittany Mall, that number jumped by 45 participants. By the end of October, the center counted 194 participants.
“It’s a significant jump, but it doesn’t capture how many people have just stopped in,” Tourscher said. “People are only counted if they fill out the paperwork and participate in our programs. Many people who stopped in have come back, but some said they plan on coming back later.”
In August, Tourscher told The Centre County Gazette that the new, larger space would allow the senior center to expand. The location off Fraser Street occupied a 4,728-square-foot space, whereas the new location will occupy 7,075-square-feet of mall space once it is renovated.
Until the beginning of 2016, the senior center will operate out of an interim location also in the Nittany Mall while it completes upgrades to its permanent home. The center is still in the design phase with architect Alan Popovich, who is meeting with staff and seniors for input.
“The interim space has been great to suite our needs temporarily,” Tourscher said.
The Nittany Mall is also allowing the center to use two other spaces in the mall, in addition to the interim space, during the remodeling period.
With more participants, many programs seniors have expressed interest in are now underway, Tourscher said, including a canasta card group.
The senior center is a community resource for adults ages 55 and older. In addition to serving lunch every Monday through Friday at 11:30 a.m., the center offers a diabetes support group, guest speaker events, bus trips, health and wellness programs and craft activities.
Many of the center’s programs are free. Tourscher said she encourages interested individuals to stop by, meet the staff and pick up a newsletter and calendar of events.
The center will continue to expand once it moves into the renovated space.
“We’ll have a little more room to work with,” Tourscher said. “We’ll be able to start more programs. … We are always looking for stuff to offer and we have a core group that has been coming for years and they give feedback, but we are also looking for feedback from outside seniors.”
