Hunter
04/19/23
Iowa City’s Senior Center will stay downtown after a survey overwhelmingly showed a preference to not move to a new location.
The Gazette reports after collecting nearly 1,000 responses, a public input survey showed 73 percent of respondents support keeping the Iowa City Senior Center at its current location on South Linn Street.
The city owns the building and plans are underway to renovate the exterior for the first time in decades. The survey was conducted to find out if the location is best for those that use the facility.
Senior Center membership is open to area residents age 50 and older, and offers classes, activities and volunteer opportunities.
Senior Center Coordinator LaTasha DeLoach highlighted some of the survey’s key findings in a memo to the City Council, and said 86 percent of those who took the survey value the center’s proximity to Iowa City’s downtown.
The Senior Center master plan’s initial draft was presented to the City Council in 2022, and DeLoach said it will continue to develop based on its current location. The Gazette says the master plan has $13.8 million in potential upgrades and renovations of the current building, which is more than double the $6.7 million the city had budgeted last year.