Fresno breaks ground on first state-of-the-art citywide senior center

FRESNO, Calif. (KFSN) -- Fresno Mayor Jerry Dyer, alongside metropolis assembly members, broke crushed successful northwest Fresno Tuesday greeting astatine a tract that volition beryllium transformed into a halfway for each seniors crossed the city.

The 34,000 quadrate ft state-of-the-art elder halfway volition unfastened successful 2027. The $41.1 cardinal task is years successful the making, with seniors anxious to make memories wrong this one-of-a-kind abstraction conscionable for them.

"I committedness you, I committedness you determination volition beryllium nary different halfway similar it successful the full Central Valley. This volition beryllium the best," said Mayor Dyer.

Once location to the erstwhile Vons gathering astatine Blackstone adjacent Ashlan, the present ungraded batch volition beryllium the aboriginal location for the city's archetypal elder enactment center. It volition beryllium connected four-and-a-half acres and beryllium billed arsenic the largest halfway successful the state.

It volition diagnostic an abundance of amenities including a gym, library, garden, bureau space, and pickleball and bocce shot courts.

"It's a spot that not lone adds to a senior's prime of life, but a spot that extends the beingness of our elder citizens," said Mayor Dyer.

The task had been successful the works aft years of readying with aggregate unfastened location meetings held crossed each 7 metropolis assembly districts, arsenic good arsenic virtual meetings.

"Advocacy for the instauration of the Fresno Senior Activity Center has been a grassroots effort successful the elder assemblage that started successful earnest successful 2016," said Jeffery Holick, a Fresno senior.

Local elder Josie Almeida has been a portion of that effort since 2023. She presently utilizes the elder halfway successful Clovis.

"I'm truly gladsome to spot this travel into fruition. It's conscionable thing that Fresno needs," said Almeida.

"It is our seniors who yet had the last accidental successful what is going into this gathering present down us," said Fresno City councilmember Tyler Maxwell.

The metropolis hopes the abstraction volition invited seniors from crossed the metropolis and make a consciousness of belonging.

"Some seniors unrecorded alone. They don't person anybody; they don't person family. This could go household for them," said Almeida.

The halfway volition beryllium made disposable escaped of complaint to seniors surviving successful Fresno.

All are invited with a valid ID.

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