Springdale buys final land parcel for center

Senior facility head expects ’25 open

SPRINGDALE — The city is proceeding with its planned new Senior Center on Emma Avenue now that the final parcel of land is secured.

The Springdale City Council on Dec. 12 approved buying the land.

Mayor Doug Sprouse said the city has been working on the new center for years, and he’s glad it will soon become a reality. Center Director Lori Proud said she anticipates it opening in March or April 2025.

Voters in May approved a $360 million bond issue that will bring the city as much as $16.25 million to build and furnish the 40,000-squarefoot center.

It will sit at 819 E. Emma Ave. on 2 acres bought by the city.

The current 20,000-square-foot center is too small to serve the growing population. It sees about 150 seniors a day for lunch and activities and serves about 300 through Meals on Wheels, Proud said.

Proud, the center’s director for 20 years, said it has expanded over the years. The current building on Park Street first served as the city’s recreation center. The John Powell Senior Center sat behind it. Those two buildings were joined to create the current Senior Center, which is about two blocks south of the new center’s site.

“We’re going to have an indoor pickleball court, a bigger exercise room, a designated workout space and more space for arts, music, classes and other activities,” she said. “Right now, things just sort of happen on top of each other.”

The center had been proposed for a location on The Jones Center campus, just north of its now-planned location. Sprouse said the thinking was the Senior Center and Jones Center would share some amenities.

As plans progressed, issues with drainage and parking surfaced. Under the laws governing the bond issue, the city would have to own the property to build and maintain the parking lot and access road. The Jones Trust would have had to transfer the property to the city.

Proud said the center strives to offer a friendly, family atmosphere, and patrons noted that as a major reason for their participation. People find ways to keep active and involved, Proud said.

“We have a motto here: ‘You rest, you rust,’” she said.

Thelma Ryker, 81, said she wasn’t interested at first in going to the center, but her daughter changed her mind.

“My daughter met two ladies from here,” Ryker said. “My husband had been gone for two years, and I wasn’t really interested in anything. She brought me down here. She brought me here for two days, and it grew into what it is now. I’m here every day.”

Ryker said she enjoys visiting with friends, playing cards and taking trips organized by the center.

Jane Smith, 80, has lived in Springdale for more than 45 years. She said she’s been coming to the center for about five years. She and her husband went to all of the local senior centers and activity centers and decided Springdale offered them what they wanted. She said she enjoys “bean-bag” baseball, bingo and line dancing classes.

“Here, it’s like one big family,” Smith said. “Every day is a great day here.”