Mayor David Cassetti cuts the ribbon on the new Ansonia Senior Center on July 6. To his right is Christine Sonsini, the senior center director.
ANSONIA – The long-awaited opening of the new Ansonia senior center downtown was welcomed with rave reviews Thursday (July 6) from seniors across the Valley.
The $1.7 million, state-of-the-art senior center is located at 65 Main St. on the second floor of the former Farrel Corp. headquarters. The building is also home to the new headquarters of the Ansonia Police Department, located on the third floor.
A grand opening ceremony and ribbon cutting took place from noon to 3 p.m. in the new digs, and attracted more than 200 senior citizens from Ansonia and the Valley to celebrate. Seniors were treated to music, dancing, a free lunch served from the large, commercial kitchen and goodies courtesy of area elderly service providers, including TEAM, Inc., Griffin Health and Naugatuck Valley Health District.
“I knew that we needed a new home for our seniors, and I wanted it to be centrally located, easy to reach by car or public transportation and I wanted our seniors to feel comfortable in their new home,” Ansonia Mayor David Cassetti said.
Membership is open to Ansonia seniors for $10 a year and to non-resident seniors for $15 a year.
The facility, in part, features an open, 3,000 square-foot space for Bingo and large gatherings, a media room, computer lab, craft station, commercial kitchen and gym/exercise space. The previous Joseph A. Doyle Senior Center, which closed a few years back to make way for new apartments downtown, was half the size of the new space.
“We are officially open for business, and tomorrow (July 7) will be our first program- Bingo,” said Senior Center Director Christine Sonsini. “The open space affords us a lot of opportunities to do a lot of different programming.”
The senior center is open from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Monday-Thursday and from 8:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. Friday. Lunch provided by TEAM, Inc. will be served Monday, Wednesday and Friday and on Thursdays, prepared in the new kitchen, for a nominal fee, Sonsini added.
Sonsini said people will be able to check schedules and programming on the senior center’s new website, once it’s up and running and in the meantime can check the city’s website at www.cityofansonia.org for information.
Derby resident Louise Pitney and her friend Edith Behrle, of Ansonia, were on hand, dancing to the music as they waited in a long lunch line that snaked around the facility.
“This place is absolutely beautiful, I was shocked and we plan to come every week to play cards,” Pitney said.
Ansonia resident Jack Ahearn, who serves on the elderly services commission, said he was amazed watching the progress of the new facility over the last 18 months, and is looking forward to taking advantage of the many new programs and most likely “will come to enjoy the food.”
Ansonia Corporation Counsel John Marini said the final project cost of $1.68 million was funded by $1,133,066.88 million in federal American Rescue Plan Act money, a $500,000 bond issuance that voters approved several years back and $50,000 in city funds for design and engineering.
Ansonia and neighboring Derby had talked about merging their senior centers for more than a decade. However, even though Derby Mayor Richard Dziekan supported the merger, Derby’s Board of Aldermen/Alderwomen rejected a proposal to join forces with Ansonia last year.
Derby resident Louise Pitney and Ansonia resident Edith Behrle dance in the lunch line at the new senior center.
