IRVINE : Center for Seniors Gets $1 Million

The Irvine Health Foundation has donated $1 million toward the construction of a new senior citizens center in the city, bringing the facility one step closer to being paid for. Officials still have about $800,000 left to raise for the $7.9-million center. It is scheduled to open in 1994.

The Irvine Co. and Kaiser Permanente have already contributed about $1 million each to the center, which is now being built at Alton Parkway and Lake Street. The city of Irvine donated the land for the facility and is helping build it.

When completed, the 30,593-square-foot center will serve 600 to 700 senior citizens per day. The existing center serves only about 300 people. About 14,000 senior citizens live in Irvine, said Judith P. Wright, program specialist for the Irvine Senior Foundation.

Both active and frail senior citizens will be welcome at the new center, which will serve meals, sponsor classes and provide meeting places for clubs and organizations. Center officials plan to offer exercise classes, social activities, health screenings and counseling services, Wright said.

For temporarily disabled elderly people, extra supervision and special programs will be provided. “We hope to enable seniors to remain at home and stay as independent as possible,” Wright said.