SEQUIM — When asked how long it will take Sequim Senior Activity Center to raise the money needed to build a new center, Executive Director Michael Smith has a ready answer.
“We’re going to do it in $4-to-$5 million,” Smith said with a smile, unsure of how long fundraising might take to reach that goal.
The goal has been to raise enough money to start construction within five or six years and move into the new center by 2018, Smith said.
So far $300,000 has been raised — minus the $218,542.81 donated by Leo Shipley to purchase nearly 4.5 acres for a larger center just north of U.S. Highway 101 between Simdars and Lofgrin roads, near Sequim’s eastern highway entrance to Washington Street.
In addition to Shipley’s donation, more than 200 members have given amounts ranging from $10 to $10,000 to the fund.
Shipley, 83, is a lifetime member of the center.
He is a retired school teacher and developer who owns and manages Baywood Village, a manufactured home community.
Double space
There, Smith and more than 1,450 activity center members hope to double the center’s space to 20,000 square feet, with a 140-space parking lot and easy access to Olympic Discovery Trail bounding the property on the south.
Smith envisions a much improved floor plan in which members do not have to walk through activity rooms to get to where they want to be at the center and giving each room all the amenities need for self-contained classes.
The center has been located on 1.1 acres at 921 E. Hammond St., since 1992.
“We can’t really expand here at all,” Smith said.
“It’s all building and parking lot.”
Growth in membership — about 900 members have joined in the past four years — led to the purchase of land for a new center not far from the Washington Street-Highway 101 exit to Sequim’s east side.
The center’s supporters hope to purchase an adjacent property of less than 1 acre originally intended for a state Department of Transportation rest stop.
To build the new center, Smith said he and the center’s board will seek grants and gifts from foundations, government entities and individuals, and a loan.
Celebration Tuesday
The center, which marks its 40th year next year, will celebrate National Senior Center Month on Tuesday with an open house at 1 p.m. featuring entertainment, refreshments and door prizes.
Smith describes the center as a place “just to hang out” and socialize with others, a place to “senior-cize,” buy a good book for 25 cents, plan a trip aboard the center’s plush 28-seat bus to a Mariner’s game, play pingpong, use a computer, get diabetic foot care, research the best pharmaceuticals, learn Spanish — or eat lunch in Cameron’s Cafe & Custom Catering, a privately owned restaurant inside the center.
Smith has been trained to teach a class called “Brain Agility,” which helps improve memory, he said.
The center has Facebook and Twitter pages.
For a newsletter listing classes, trips and social events, phone 360-681-6086, visit the center or visit www.SequimSeniorCenter.org.
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Sequim-Dungeness Valley Editor Jeff Chew can be reached at 360-681-2391 or at jeff.chew@peninsuladailynews.com.
