New Senior Center slated to open spring 2019
Director: New state-of-the-art facility will have seven rooms
The new SCV Senior Center building on Golden Valley Road is expected to be completed in spring 2019, center staff announced Wednesday.
Executive Director Kevin MacDonald told the crowd gathered in the multi-purpose room at the existing Senior Center, on Market Street, that they’d be upgrading to seven rooms in the new state-ofthe-art facility, among other changes.
The new center is planned as a two-story, 30,000-squarefoot building built on 2.5 acres of donated land on Golden Valley Road, MacDonald said.
“We’re planning this center because it’s important to meet the needs of our growing
Santa Clarita Valley,” he said. “The senior population is growing so much, and it is the right time and place to build a hub for senior services, and it can also be a place for social gatherings and recreation.”
The recreation MacDonald referred to is planned to be found in new services, such as a health and wellness center in partnership with Henry Mayo Newhall Hospital. Additionally, the new center is slated to include a second-career center, a technology center, an education center in partnership with College of the Canyons, a financial information center in partnership with AARP and a center for senior rights.
The community campaign to raise an additional $1 million will run until December, and the estimated completion date for construction is February. The Senior Center programs will move to the new facility in March or April, and the center will be officially open by that spring, MacDonald said.
So far, the city of Santa Clarita donated $3.5 million and Los Angeles County donated $3 million, with community support contributing $2.6 million, according to a presentation at the event.
Before the center is complete, monthly updates will be given to the center’s clients each month, starting with a presentation by Senior Center Board President Peggy Rasmussen in October, MacDonald said.
“We met with seniors to listen to what programs they need and what’s most popular when we were considering what services to add,” he said. “We’ve been in this building for 40 years, and we’ve definitely outgrown it… We’re grateful for the community support.”