The Friends of the Greenwich Senior Center Awarded $300k Grant Toward Renovation

The Friends of the Greenwich Senior Center and the Greenwich Commission on Aging have a lot to celebrate in this New Year. With Steve Meskers as State Representative and advocate, the Senior Center was awarded a $300,000 grant toward renovations of their building.

“I have worked closely with the office of OPM and with the Governors staff to secure this funding,” Meskers said. ”It is all wonderful in this joyous holiday season to validate the work carried out by countless volunteers to make this world a better place.”

Demolition Photos, courtesy Patricia Burns and Laurette Helmrich

This grant leaves a gap of only $220,000 to complete an all-new Senior Center facility. They are hoping to get their funding completed to expedite the construction.

The Friends of the Greenwich Senior Center is a 501(c)3 organization created to fundraise for the construction of an all-new building or renovation of the existing facility, and to support and/or augment programs that directly benefit the fast growing segment of older adult residents in our town. They have a public/private partnership with the Town of Greenwich dividing renovation costs equally between the two.

“We are incredibly thankful to Steve Meskers and to everyone who has been working so hard to create a safe, healthy, and updated environment to support our older population,” said Patricia Burns, President of the FGSC. “This generous grant came to us because people care passionately about the residents who choose to age in place, near their family and friends.”

There has been an ongoing phased renovation of the Greenwich Senior Center in the center of Greenwich Avenue for eight years.

The building is a historic landmark, and the original Town Hall and has not been renovated since the program began in 1981. 

A new kitchen and dining room is currently in the works with the goal of opening in the fall of 2022.

“We were excited to discover exposed stone and brick with archways when we started construction in the dining room,” Burns said.

Demolition Photos, courtesy Patricia Burns and Laurette Helmrich

“We are going to incorporate these historic elements into the sunny, modern renovation and add large screens for seminars and classes, and cashless, touchless tablets for sanitary payments,” Burns added. “We’re not going to be ‘old’ anymore!”

Additionally, with a new, commercial kitchen, this will become an ideal space for events, located in the heart of Greenwich.

Photo: Patricia Maher

The building will continue to enable additional program space on both levels, the creation of a modern exercise room and a welcoming reception/seating area. The Greenwich Senior Center is projected to be fully complete by 2025.

This comes as the Town of Greenwich is engaged in the formal process of receiving designation as an Age-Friendly Community by AARP and the World Health Organization (WHO) and has officially been named as a Dementia Friendly Community by Dementia Friendly America.  

If you would like to donate to help them reach their goal, please visit greenwichseniorcenterfriends.org or email Patricia Burns [email protected]

Photo: Bobbi Eggers