Some Oak Lawn senior citizens told village trustees Tuesday they do not welcome the idea of moving the village senior center to the Oak Lawn Public Library.
“The library doesn’t give us what we need,” said Ginger Morgan, a 52-year resident.
Morgan, a member of the Oak Lawn Senior Council, said village officials did not consult with or ask for input before proposing to close the senior center, housed at the former McGugan Junior High School, and move senior activities to the public library.
While the library may have space available, Morgan said seniors need leadership to organize and schedule programs.
“They are completely ignoring their constituents,” said resident Dale Kaczmarek.
If Oak Lawn does not want to build a new senior center, then Kaczmarek would rather the senior center remain in the former school, at 5220 W. 105th St.
The village rents two classrooms and a kitchen in the old McGugan school and has use of the gymnasium once a month for Bingo and a meal when a boxed lunch is served to 70 and 80 seniors, Morgan said.
How could the library handle Bingo and lunch for a group that size, Morgan said. Before the pandemic, sometimes 100 or more seniors attended the monthly lunch, she said.
But village officials promised seniors would have as many and more programs at the library.
“I can guarantee you this senior center will not only duplicate all the services you got used to over the last 10 years, but will provide additional services,” Mayor Terry Vorderer said.
Village officials are proposing to remodel the north end of the library, at an estimated cost of $500,000, to create an area called the Encore Center to accommodate senior activities. A preliminary design shows a flexible space for large or small groups, with a reading nook and a drive-up window along Raymond Avenue.
Vorderer said they favor the plan because the library is more centrally located than the former school where the senior center now rents space. Since he was elected mayor last year, Vorderer said he has heard constant requests “to bring the senior center back to the center of town.”
Up until about 10 years ago, a village-owned building at 95th and Raymond housed the senior center, Vorderer said. But the Village Board at that time decided to sell the building and rent space for senior programs.
After much discussion this past year with park and library officials, Vorderer said they decided the 70,000-square-foot library, which is probably the largest building paid for by the taxpayers in town, was the most promising location.
“They have a lot of space there,” Vorderer said.
The village staff surveyed library use from early September to early November in 2021 and reported the number of patrons in the library averaged between 13 and 19 between 10 a.m. and 2 p.m., the time when senior activities often are scheduled.
“It turns out, it’s perfect synergy,” said Village Manager Thomas Phelan.
Unlike the role of libraries decades ago when they were filled with shelves of books, libraries are gathering places that offer computers, workshops and activities for people of all ages. Phelan mentioned a talk on estate planning and movies that are shown at the library.
“We have access to those programs now,” Kaczmarek said, saying spending $500,000 to renovate the library would be a waste of money.
But having the senior center at the old McGugan school costs about $150,000 a year, Phelan said. The biggest expense is for the company which operates the program.
Morgan said Genesis Therapy Center did a wonderful job organizing craft and exercise activities, and scheduling author and artist talks for the seniors, along with other programs.
It was Genesis, not the village, that told the Senior Council that changes at the senior center were being planned, Morgan said.
Carol Tuman, who said she is a 30-year Oak Lawn resident and active library volunteer and patron, urged village officials “to not disrupt the library trying to accommodate a senior center under the same roof.”
Attendance is down at the library because many people still live in fear of the coronavirus, Tuman said.
“Normalcy will return,” she said.
If the village no longer wants to rent space at the McGugan school, Tuman suggested they use Oak View Community Center for senior programs.
“The seniors do not want Mar-a-Lago,” Tuman said. “Tables and chairs, heating in the winter, cooling in the summer is enough, and that is what is available at Oak View — classroom size rooms, two entrances, all on the main floor, more than adequate parking.”
“The huge expense of remodeling the library is unnecessary when adequate facilities are already available at Oak View,” Tuman said.
The Oak Lawn Park District-owned Oak View Center is on 110th Street east of Cicero Avenue, not centrally located in a town that stretches as far north as 87th Street and as far west as Harlem Avenue.
Some residents asked the village about $900,000 in grants the village was supposed to get from the state for its senior center.
Phelan said the grant was “a 2019 promise from Gov. Pritzker.”
“For the record, we haven’t gotten $1 yet from the state,” he said, though officials have contacted its state legislators and still hopes to receive the money.
“We are committed to doing this, whether we get the money or not,” Phelan said.
The project would be done in partnership with the library, but how the expense would be divided has not been determined yet.
The library director, Carol Williams, said her board has not yet scheduled a vote on the village’s proposed plan.
“We will be discussing in the months to come what we know about the current senior programming versus what library programming we offer, and which we could possibly host if the seniors no longer have space available to them,” Williams said in an email. “I believe the Board agrees that seniors in Oak Lawn are an important part of our community and none want to see them be without space for their activities.”