Orcas Senior Center hosts meeting to address building expansion, future needs

||| FROM LENA KASSA for ORCAS SENIOR CENTER |||

“Will the building be large enough to support seniors 20, 30 or 40 years from now?” was a question asked by an attendee at an informational meeting held at the Orcas Senior Center (OSC) on September 25, 2024.

In response, panelists noted that the nonprofit OSC occupies only three of 16 offices and is bursting at the seams. (San Juan County departments occupy the remaining offices.) “Even without expanding the building footprint, we can expand the space available for programs and activities by acquiring the County’s 49% ownership share” explained OSC Board member Tom Eversole. Edy Hansen, Programs & Activities Manager, noted that the center has become a hub of community activity. She gave a recent example of a day when there were eight concurrent activities. Because all the rooms available to the nonprofit OSC were in use, one of the eight activities took place in the lobby and another with participants huddled at the Front Desk.

Hansen also noted that the OSC building is one of the few buildings on the island that can host large community services such as the Washington State Department of Licensing’s DOL2Go program, and health and wellness events like Life Line Screening and mammogram screening.

Purchasing the building is only the first step. Maintenance and renovation will also be needed. OSC Board Vice President Allan Rosato and Facilities Manager Travis King spoke about short-term maintenance needs, as well as visions for future renovation. In the near term, explained Rosato, the roof needs to be replaced, along with the gutters and a portion of the siding. Longer term, a lobby remodel could provide better space use, converting an existing double office into a “living room” could serve support groups and other gatherings, and relocating the foot care room and replacing it with an ADA restroom could support dementia respite services in what is now the Conference Room.

Thanks to donations from so many community members, OSC now has the funds to purchase the County’s 49% share, with closing scheduled for October 3, 2024. OSC will continue to raise funds and write grant proposals to allow for needed maintenance and eventual renovation.

You can help by donating to the Orcas Senior Center Building Purchase & Renovation Fund on the Orcas Island Community Foundation’s website at http://tinyurl.com/OSCBuildingFund or by contacting OSC directly at admin@orcasseniors.org. Thank you for helping us write the next exciting chapter of the Orcas Senior Center’s story!

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