East Hartford Senior Center opens new building to the community

Sep. 16—EAST HARTFORD — The town's new Senior Center formally opened Wednesday, offering many new amenities that weren't possible at the old facility including a large gathering hall with a demonstration kitchen and projection space that takes up one wing of the building.

The center also features a pair of exercise rooms, a game room with custom pool table, a patio with seating, and as-of-yet-incomplete technology center. A wellness room, a conference room, and arts and crafts room also are available for a variety of different programs. The center of the facility features a large, multipurpose area with seating and tables.

Mayor Marcia Leclerc, who spearheaded the development as both a municipal leader and founder of the Friends of East Hartford Senior Centers, manned the scissors at the ribbon cutting.

"The East Hartford Senior Center story was one ready to be written about 20 years ago," Leclerc said.

Leclerc said the development came out to a total of $9.9 million, "not including those yet to be completed and added items."

She said the Friends group will be furnishing the technology center and computer room, and additional capital investments beyond the budget will be acquired for other incomplete items.

Leclerc said Pratt & Whitney has donated "a significant amount of money" for murals to be painted.

Information announcing the ribbon cutting states that roughly half of the project's costs were from taxpayers, with the rest covered by donations.

Leclerc said the ribbon cutting served as a formal ceremony for the opening of the center, and the official opening will occur in conjunction with the annual senior picnic on Sept. 22. She said tickets for the upcoming event "sold out immediately."

Leclerc said she was honored to be joined by a number of guests who helped throughout the process, including Lt. Gov. Susan Bysiewicz.

"She has always been a champion for East Hartford and seniors and residents," Leclerc said.

Bysiewicz said Leclerc's tenacity and persistence is what brought the project to fruition.

"This beautiful building shows our state and our towns' and cities' investment in our elder community that is so important to our state's future," Bysiewicz said, citing the 575,000 Connecticut residents over the age of 65.

Since many of the furnishings were donated by various parties, plaques adorn the walls of rooms in dedication of the parties who helped build them.

One such plaque dedicates the gathering hall to Timothy J. Moynihan Jr., who died in March 2020. Leclerc said he was a lifelong resident and an active member of the community, formerly serving as the state Democratic Party chairman, a state legislator, and president of the Chamber of Commerce

Royce Moynihan attended the ribbon cutting to accept flowers and speak about his memory.

"My husband Tim was a lifelong member of the Blessed Sacrament Church, he lived his whole life just a short distance from here around the corner," Royce said, adding that her husband would have been honored and his family is grateful to see his memory continued through the center.

"This parish and the town of East Hartford meant the world to him," Royce said.

Leclerc said the building came as the culmination of fundraising the Friends conducted, originally to upgrade and renovate the existing facility at the old John J. McCartin School. She said a 2016 study determined most of the funds they gathered would have been used up on building rehabilitation.

Leclerc said at the same time, the consolidation of churches by the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Hartford left the Blessed Sacrament Church vacant, which architects said would be a "perfect candidate" for a new Senior Center.

"After much study and public discussion, the Town Council unanimously approved the purchase of the facility in February 2018 for the conversion of the building into the new East Hartford Senior Center," Leclerc said.

Leclerc said construction began in February 2020 after architectural planning and bidding of the project, "in the beginning of the pandemic with no groundbreaking or fanfare," due to COVID restrictions. "And here yet we are today, a project that came in on budget and on pandemic time."

State Department of Aging and Disability Services Commissioner Amy Porter said senior centers and services have to regularly adapt to the needs of their communities, and the new facility is an extension of their commitment.

"Senior centers like this one serve as beacons in the community," Porter said.

Theodore Fravel, town director of parks and recreation and senior services, said working on the project through the pandemic led to delays and waiting, but he is happy to finally be able to present it to the public.

"Someone decided to give me the keys to this building, and I'm excited," Fravel said.

Council Chairman Richard Kehoe said the new center is an "incredible achievement," and a "testament to Marcia's forethought."

"It's not just a step up from our two senior centers that we currently have, it's a staircase up," Kehoe said.

Joseph covers East Hartford and South Windsor. He joined the JI in July 2021. Joseph graduated from the University of Connecticut and he is an avid guitarist and coffee enthusiast.