Every year some publication declares the city one of the best places to live in the US. All the good attention has created quite a large influx of people relocating to the city, and while Fort Collins is growing rapidly to accommodate them, there is still some catching up to do.
 

One of the fastest growing populations in Fort Collins
Due somewhat to positive attention from media and longer average lifespans, the over-60 population in Fort Collins is expected to increase by 23 percent in the next two years according to the expansion project’s website. It is estimated that in seven years that population will double and grow to more than 74,000 people.

“The latest count is that by 2030 there will be somewhere in the neighborhood of 36,000 individuals in this town that are over the age of 65. We service people who are much younger than 65 but by the same token if you take to perspective what our population is… there will be as many old people as there are young people in this community,” says senior advisory board member Barbara Schoenberger.

According to experts, another cause may be a large portion of the overall population is beginning to enter into retirement age. “The baby boomer population [is] beginning to retire and so they’ll be using this facility and looking for more activities to do after they retire,” says renovation committee campaign chair John Pfeiffenberger.

Renovations to existing space are needed
The Fort Collins senior center is one of only two such accredited facilities in the state. It is specifically designed to be accessible to people with diminishing mobility, eyesight or other handicaps and has been accredited since 2003 by the National Council on Aging.

At the most recent estimate, the Fort Collins senior center sees over 1000 visitors per day and hosts nearly 300 events every week. Currently many of those events are held in spaces inappropriate for the activity, such as massages in craft rooms and so forth, according to senior center staff members. However the most compelling motivation for adjustments is what it will mean to the adults who use the space.

“The senior center is such an important part of life in Fort Collins. It creates an opportunity for people to get together and socialize and mix. It gives people a reason for being very active in life and there’s so many activities here, “says Miles Crane, a user of the facility.

Ten years in the making
The appeal for change has been a long time coming. Beginning in 2000, senior center staff and members began to appeal to the city for an expansion.

“Once we opened the building we realized we were small, we were too small. So we decided to go for an expansion. And we were part of a 2005 sales tax initiative to expand the senior center and it was passed,” says Pfeiffenberger.

 
Construction has begun
So far the expansion project has received about 5.1 million dollars from the city as well as another 1 million from the fundraising committee. The whole project will cost nearly 7 million dollars and will feature a 17,000-sq.-foot addition to the existing 40,000-sq.-foot facility. Along with a brand-new cardio fitness room, the renovations will include a wellness center, dance and exercise studios, multipurpose education rooms, community gathering place, additional storage, and some much needed parking spaces.

The project is set to be completed around May of 2014. More plans for the renovation can be found on the expansion project’s website or the City of Fort Collins site.