Grand Opening Scheduled for Costa Mesa Senior Center

Workers vacuum up the last scraps of leftover dust while Executive Director Susan Schollenberger, clad in cotton pants and sneakers, busily gives tours. With the Costa Mesa Senior Center opening just a week away, everyone from the construction crew to the staff is gearing up for the event.

On June 20, with much fanfare, the 28-room center is scheduled to open its doors and provide thousands of seniors in the community with a place to play, have lunch, make friends and even get their blood pressure checked.

“We had long felt we needed a home,” said Gladys Refakes, president of the 1,000-member Costa Mesa Senior Citizens Club. “Now it will just be a matter of getting settled in.”

The building at 19th Street and Pomona Avenue is the result of several months of planning, fund raising and elbow grease.

A few years ago, members of the senior community approached city officials to discuss their needs. After that initial meeting, a comprehensive study of the senior community was conducted and plans for the center were begun.

The study found that two of the city’s largest senior groups--the Costa Mesa Senior Citizens Club and the Golden Timers--did not have a permanent meeting place. To remedy that, the city agreed to spend $4 million for the purchase of property and construction of a new senior center.

A nonprofit corporation was established to run the facility.

Now officials hope the two senior groups will share the facility and make it their new home.

“It gives (the seniors) a sense of ownership and sense of pride in the community,” said Chic Clarke, president of the board overseeing the nonprofit group.

With soft-pink walls and soothing blue-green carpet, the center is like a waiting room in an expensive hotel. Its architecture is modern, with vaulted ceilings and curved stairways that connect to atriums and several small meeting rooms.

The facility has a billiard room, health center, several patios and a library, complete with a fireplace.

Jeff Hovsepian, director of development, says activities planned include bingo, aerobics, card games, day trips, and arts and crafts.

The grand opening is scheduled for 9 a.m. June 20. The public is invited to tour the facility until 4 p.m., officials said. On June 21, the center will begin its programs for seniors and will hold an ice-cream social from 2 to 4 p.m.