PORTAGE, MI (WKZO AM/FM) — The City of Portage is continuing their efforts with their “Engage. Empower. Enrich. A Campaign for the Portage Community Senior Center.”
According to an official press release, the purpose of the fundraising campaign is to build a new Portage Community Senior Center at 203 East Centre Avenue.
Portage Mayor Patricia Randall says the campaign is halfway to success.
“We started [the campaign] back in January by calling on many businesses in the area,” Randall said. “We have raised $3.5 million to date, and we’re looking for another $2 million. The city has pledged to match…every private dollar that is donated.”
The new Senior Center is being built due to increasing numbers of elderly citizens.
“Our current Senior Center, which was built in 1982, is no longer large enough to offer the programs and services that today’s seniors need,” Randall said. “We are looking at a new building on property that the city owns very close to the current senior center.”
The press release notes that the number of residents 65 and older in Kalamazoo County has increased by 29% and in Portage by 37% since the year 2000.
Randall hopes Portage will be a leader by example with the new center.
“It will be four times the size of our current one, and we hope that we will be a leader not only in this region, but across the State,” Randall said. “We’re looking to really make this a pilot program. Everybody is in need of more services towards seniors, and it’s a nonpartisan issue. Everybody can get behind it whether they are a Republican or a Democrat.”
The new center will feature a 330 person multipurpose room, a courtyard with an outdoor fireplace, an outdoor terrace, recreational space for pickleball, basketball and other activities, fitness space, a center promenade for indoor walking, a commercial kitchen, a coffee shop, dedicated space for games and reading, and a health clinic.
A press ceremony was held Tuesday morning at the current Portage Senior Center on 320 Library Lane.
