COSTA MESA : Community Center to Open in April

Today, the building is just an unfinished wood frame on 19th Street, surrounded by mud and construction trucks. But when it opens in April, it will be the largest senior center in Orange County.

The $2.35-million Costa Mesa Senior Citizen Center will provide programs, classes and other services for seniors, said Susan Schollenberger, director of the Costa Mesa Senior Citizens Corp.

The design shows skylights and large balconies, a ramp to the second floor and a long dining and meeting room with a 1,500-square-foot parquet dance floor. The 20,000-square-foot building will also include a billiards room, classrooms and offices, a kitchen, a lounge and a library.

After a long period of planning for the building, Schollenberger and Jeffrey Hovsepian, director of program development for the proposed center, are now focusing on the activities they hope will attract seniors to the facility. The center will be across the street from Bethel Towers, an 18-story senior apartment building.

“In the year 2000, there are going to be more people over 65 than we will have people under 25,” Schollenberger said. “I think we’ve focused a lot on the youth, and people are aging better and living longer.”

Schollenberger is talking with some existing care providers about helping with programs at the center. She said the Feedback Foundation is expected to move its Project TLC to the center to feed lunch to the seniors.

“This is my dream,” Schollenberger said as she scanned lists of unfilled jobs. She hopes to hire four staff members to coordinate activities and social services. But she said the bulk of the work will be handled by volunteers.

“We will have to count a lot on volunteers for everything--for the library, the reception area, the gift shop, visiting the homebound and providing transportation; especially for people who need to get to the doctor,” she said. “We want to do everything.”

The center is funded by a combination of local and federal funds as well as private contributions. The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development provided a $1.6-million grant. The city has also paid much of the $2.3-million project.

Hovsepian is currently raising private money to furnish the center with a goal of $130,000 in donations. Contributors--mostly area businesses--are asked to sponsor particular rooms in the center. For example, for a $9,000 contribution, the donor’s name would be placed on a plaque in the library where desks, chairs, lamps, bookcases, love seats and a coffee table are needed.

Hovsepian said the fund-raising campaign has resulted in commitments from a few donors, but most of the rooms remain unclaimed.

To help raise money, Hovsepian said he has planned some social events including a movie premiere in March at a local Edwards Cinemas theater; the proceeds will go toward the center. He has also tentatively scheduled a casino night fund-raiser for June at the center.