ROWLEY – The new director of the Council on Aging has lofty ambitions for the town’s seniors, which make up about a third of the approximately 6,250 residents.
Marty Blanchard wants the town to find or build a space large enough and designed for senior activities.
“The Council on Aging should be a place that provides a plethora of resources,” she said. “As new Director, I hope to expand the services and resources available through the COA, including connecting older adults with programs, educational opportunities, social activities, health and wellness resources, transportation assistance and other services that can help them live healthy, fulfilling and independent lives.”
The seniors gather now in a wing of the Town Annex building on Central Street, which was the former Central School, built at the turn of the last century. It is shared with the Planning Department, the Conservation Commission and the Zoning Board of Appeals.
When the seniors hold events that attract more participants than the space will accommodate, they move to neighboring churches, the Plantation Hall auditorium or the Town Common itself, where they will hold the annual Open House on Sept. 17.
“We have to be really creative,” she said.
Blanchard’s vision is to move the Senior Center and the town departments together to a new larger building and sell the annex. “This building would make great apartments,” she said.
She compared it to the former courthouse in Ipswich, called the District. Newburyport has also turned the former Kelley School into condominiums.
Once the building were sold, the town could use the proceeds to buy or build a building to replace the annex, she said.
“We’ve built a new fire station and police station. It’s the seniors’ turn,” she said.
My goal for the Rowley COA is for it to be a place where every older adult feels welcome, heard, valued and supported,” she wrote. “Our future is exciting.”
