Towns supports Senior Center renovation project
By Angela Greiner Community Reporter

Hudson - Local seniors celebrated the Feb. 5 election results, which included the approval, 3,802-1,732, of ballot question one. Question one, which has been the subject of debate since it was placed on the ballot after the Nov. 19, 2007, Town Meeting, will allow the town to override Proposition 2-1/2 for the bond needed to pay for the design, renovation, construction and furnishing costs for a newly expanded Senior Center.

The Senior Center project will renovate the existing antique building, bring it up to code, make it accessible to the handicapped via ramps and elevators, and expand the facility from 8,000 square feet to 14,000 square feet; it is projected to cost $4.4 million.

"We are thrilled," Director of Community Development Michelle Ciccolo said. "This building is a key facility in the community. The time has come to address the building's needs. I am glad the community supported this and has decided to move forward, especially embracing it in a vote of two-to-one."

Senior Center Director Janice Long explained that now that the voters have approved the ballot question, the town can apply for a Community Development Block Grant from the Department of Housing and Community Development for federal funds distributed by the Department of Housing and Urban Development.

Long said the seniors plan to raise as much money as possible toward the $4.4 million dollar balance to decrease the amount needed to be repaid by taxpayers. In addition to applying for grants, members of the Senior Center are planning to hire a professional fund-raiser with the hope of raising at least a half million dollars.

The seniors, whose campaign slogan was "For seniors of today and for seniors on the way," worked hard to make the ballot question pass, Long said, including hours picketing in the cold, talking on the phone and writing letters to appeal for support among community members.

Fran Laughton was one of those seniors.

"I have been in Hudson for 50 years, and the seniors deserve this," Laughton said. "From the beginning, they embraced this project, and they did not let the rain on Election Day stand in their way. I am proud that the seniors in this community knew enough to stand up and to be counted … When you do, you win."

With architectural design plans due back soon, Long and the Senior Center members look forward to breaking ground on the construction phase of the project in the fall.

"The plan is to work through the construction," Long said. "We will move things around to do what we have to do to make it happen."

The project, which is expected to take about a year and a half to complete, will go out to bid once the architectural plans have been cemented.

Long anticipated some challenges during the construction process, but said anything worthwhile is worth some eff ort.

"It is full steam ahead," Long said. "All of the staff here is so happy because we love this place."