Senior center tabled; community center is priority

The urgency for a senior center has diminished, and the consensus is to take no action and to channel the $260,000 set aside this fiscal year into the design and construction of a community center in the proposed Prairie Winds park located south of the new grade school.

The recommendation comes from the Parks and Recreation Committee after learning that scheduling is no longer an issue for the senior meal program held in the community center at Forsyth Public Library and attendance has dwindled as well.

“We’re not voting down a senior center,” said trustee and committee chair Eric Morr, adding that the center could be located in a new community center.

Among the options were rebuilding the old Village Hall located on Elwood Street; adding on to the library; constructing a new building; and renting 2,100 square feet of either finished or unfinished space behind Buffalo Wild Wings at One Market Place. The options were based on the assumptions that:

• phase one of a new community center located north of Cox Street and south of the new grade school will be completed within the next two years 
• a new library addition will be built in the next five years
• senior programming will grow to merit a stand alone center or be included in a new community centern a new facility would require $10,000 in kitchen equipment, tables and chairs.

Morr said the committee has concluded its study for a senior center and “...will move on to the Prairie Winds park and a facility needs study for a community center.” Students from Eastern Illinois University’s Department of Recreation Administration will conduct the study, which will provide information the Village can use to develop short-term and long-range recreation planning, including how a senior center fits in with long-range plans for a community center.

The EIU study costs $7,500 and includes a community-wide survey to assess Forsyth’s overall park and recreation services. It will complement a 2006 Parks and Recreation Committee survey that showed most respondents favored an inside walking/jogging track in a proposed community recreation center.

Completion of the study is expected within five months.