Members Ok Identity Change For Senior Center New Name More Accurate Description, Says Director

The old South Hill Senior Center is now the new South Side Senior Activity Center.

Members of the 12-year-old organization voted unanimously Tuesday to change its name.

The decision came during a general membership meeting and luncheon attended by about 100 people.

Members also re-elected the organization’s officers and board members.

Director Myrna Johnson-Ross said the new name more accurately reflects the mission and service area of the center.

“We are more active than the stereotypical senior center of yesterday,” Johnson-Ross said. “We want the market to be aware of that so we can be more appealing to younger retired seniors.”

The programs are for residents 55 and older.

She said changing the name from South Hill to South Side shows the center is reaching out to a broader geographical area.

Changing the name is one of the initial steps in changing headquarters. The center is about to embark on a fund drive to raise money for a new facility.

Currently the center occupies leased quarters in the Lincoln Heights Shopping Center, but the facility has no commercial kitchen, few classrooms and inadequate office space. It also has a stairway connecting the upper and lower floors - a problem for some seniors.

The Spokane Parks Department is working with the city Water Department to open up 1.7 acres of city land adjacent to the water reservoirs on South Ray Street.

That could be the location for the new 12,000-square-foot center, expected to cost $1.8 million.

A market research study was recently conducted by Jane Baker, a graduate student at Eastern Washington University. The study included focus groups, surveys and a town hall meeting.

Seniors said they wanted more one-day tours and dinners, more computer classes, greater health education and screenings and a volunteer resource center.

Seniors said the new center needs easy access, a well-lighted parking lot, quiet study areas, social areas, physical activity areas, a stage and a well-planned kitchen.

The name change was one of the recommendations in the study.

Johnson-Ross said the center probably won’t change the names on its signs at the Lincoln Heights Shopping Center because of the cost. The newsletter will probably switch to the new name in February.

“We are trying to be prudent with our money,” she said.

, DataTimes