Sprightly Seniors: What Do They Want?

The East Hampton Town senior citizens center on Springs-Fireplace Road is in need of an upgrade. However, a plan revealed last week may not be the solution.

Discussion for an improved senior citizens center has been perennial in Town Hall. Programs now are run in what was once a roadside bar and grill, with only modest improvements and a supposedly temporary trailer office outside for extra workspace. It is far from ideal. 

An idea to repurpose the former Child Development Center of the Hamptons school on Stephen Hand’s Path in East Hampton as a new senior citizens hub was rejected about a year ago, mostly for reasons of cost. Instead, a little over a year ago, the town board settled on a Long Island engineering firm to oversee a totally new center on the existing site.

The replacement is big: maybe too big. At two stories, the building would have more than 18,000 square feet of floor space, including a huge lunchroom. The East Hampton Food Pantry would be upstairs, with a conveyor belt to bring in supplies. The parking lot would have room for 116 cars, almost double the current capacity. Cost estimates vary, but are somewhere in the $5.2 million range. 

According to figures provided by the town’s Human Services Department, about 330 people had meals at the Springs-Fireplace Road center in 2015. In addition, residents came to the center for social activities and counseling. The town runs a free transportation program for older people from the site as well. These are worthy services, but only a fraction of the estimated over-65 population here seems to participate. Furthermore, whether the proposed building has been scaled correctly for future needs and is the best it can be aesthetically, is not quite clear.

A third of the East Hampton Town population is in the aging baby-boom generation or older, and officials are aware that the need for services will increase. But how the aging population’s needs may differ from those of earlier generations is the subject of debate. The National Council on Aging, in a recent report, cautioned that older adults have more choices and expectations than ever before and that offerings for them will have to adapt. 

Smaller, decentralized programs might be a better alternative than putting almost all the town’s resources for older residents in a single location, one that creates its own transportation demands. Meanwhile, almost around the corner, plans are afoot for a massive medical center, further cramming essential services into a small geographical area.

  A better approach is already in evidence farther east, where the town is involved in an exciting addition to the Montauk Playhouse that will include two swimming pools and performance and meeting spaces. This appears to be more the kind of facility the new aged may want, as opposed to the generic, hulking senior citizens center being envisioned for Springs-Fireplace Road. 

If the town is going to spend $5 million or more on something, it had better be sure that it is getting the best value for taxpayers’ money and the best possible facility. What has been proposed is big and impressive. A little more analysis to make sure a new center is the right answer is essential.