Proponents of a new community/senior center answered questions during the Natick Forever forum last night, saying the new building would have activities for residents ages 5 to 95.
Residents will be asked to approve the $10 million construction cost at the March 30 election.
The proposed 30,000-square foot facility would include a gymnasium, a community room and a large multipurpose room. It would also have space for the town's Council on Aging, Human Services and Veterans Services departments.
The new center will cost the average homeowner (of a house assessed at $393,200) $55.30 more on the 2011 tax bill, said Deputy Town Administrator Michael Walters Young.
Resident Erica Ball said she believes the project is worth the money, especially since the senior population is expected to grow significantly over the next 20 years.
"We have planned for the schools, but we have not done it for the seniors," Ball said. "We can afford to pay $1 a week for our parents and others."
Resident Maureen Fleming said she believes many in town will struggle to afford to pay the added taxes to pay for the new center. She said she thinks it may be nice, but is unnecessary.
"These days, people are focused on need to have vs. nice to have," Fleming said. "I am looking for what we really need this for. It doesn't seem like a necessary project, it seems kind of fluffy."
If the project fails at the ballot, the senior center will not close, but the opportunity to expand services will be lost, said Diane Packer, assistant director of the Council on Aging.
"Will we continue to provide classes and services? Yes," Packard said. "But there are lots and lots and lots of classes and programs we would like to offer, but cannot because we don't have the facility for them."
Selectman John Ciccariello, who is chairman of the center's Building Committee, said the town would have to do something to the center if the project fails at the ballot box.
"If we leave the center as is, it still needs work," he said. "If we renovate, and don't expand, it will probably still mean $6 million would be put into the building, and it would not be modernized."
The Natick Recreation and Parks Department would also use the center, and it could accommodate more youth programs, said Dan Keefe, assistant superintendent for the Recreation Department.
"(Today) there is not enough gym space to accommodate all the kids in town," he said.
Forum moderator Jimmy Brown asked the panel how the center could be expanded and not require more people be hired to run it. Lori Rosen, chairwoman of the Council on Aging, said the main cost - hiring a building supervisor at night during the expanded hours - would be covered by fees paid by groups renting the center at night.
The custodian that takes care of the senior center was in charge of the next door Natick District Court, too, until it closed this fall. So, she believes he can handle the new, bigger center.
Most of the classes at the senior center are run by volunteers, Rosen said, and the exercise instructors get paid from fees charged to participants.
Steve Levinsky, who heads the group seeking private donations for the new center, said that a similar effort for a senior center in Belmont raised $1 million.
"The money we raise will support additional equipment and resources at the center," he said. "If it is not needed for that, it will be used to pay down the (cost of building the center) and will relieve the burden on taxpayers."
More information about the proposed Community Senior Center is available at www.natickcsc.org.
(Charlie Breitrose can be reached at 508-626-3964 or cbreitro@cnc.com.)