Irvine : Senior Center Wins One-Year Extension

The City Council gave a show of support this week for the Rancho San Joaquin Senior Center, which once was considered for closure.

Council members voted to keep the senior center open through June 30--the end of the fiscal year--and attempted to quell rumors that it would either be closed or its programs would be sharply curtailed.

“There is a segment in the senior population who are scared to death that is what is going to happen,” Councilwoman Paula Werner said. “I think by listening to the consensus of the council, we put those fears to rest.”

Some seniors feared that programs were going to be eliminated at the 15-year-old center to make rental space available to increase city revenues. But council members also voted Tuesday night that senior programs there should be given first priority.

After the Lakeview Senior Center opened in Woodbridge Village last spring, officials at the city’s Community Service Department considered closing the older senior center. But a recent survey determined there is a continuing demand for programs offered at Rancho.

“We wanted to make sure that Lakeview wasn’t just going to take everybody away, that Rancho wasn’t going to just sit there empty,” Mayor Mike Ward said. “They were considering closing it, but after they looked at it they saw that it was needed.”

Of the city’s 121,000 residents, 11,848 are 55 to 84 years old, according to the 1990 Census. About half of them--5,697--are 65 to 84.

Irvine senior Frank Hurd said he was pleased with the council’s support, but wary that only a one-year extension was granted. Hurd told council members he would like to see a longer commitment, “so it won’t be subjected to annual potshots by those who would consider another use for it.”