After years of waiting and enduring the decaying facilities of the old Jacksonville Recreation Center and then the cramped quarters of two rooms in the community center, Jacksonville’s senior citizens have a new place of their own.On Aug. 10, the Jacksonville Senior Center officially opened its doors. There is plenty of office space for Carter Jones, the program’s director, and a large meeting room with partitions in the middle, allowing it to be split in half if needed.
Jones is already working on the expanded list of programs he hopes to offer in the new space and is looking forward to recommendations from the public.
“I have pages and pages of ideas of what to do here to the point where it’s staggering what we can do,” said Jones.
A large crowd gathered for the open house on Sunday, including many of the senior program participants and those who were instrumental in the building’s construction, including the city council, representatives of the East Alabama Planning and Development Commission and former Parks and Recreation Supervisor Bo Batey.
“A few years ago, driving from Henry Farm Park up through town and by the mill here, I had an idea about this property and this park and I shared it with the mayor and council at that time. We put together a proposal to Union Yarn and asked them if they would donate this property back to the city as a park. We sold them on the idea that it was an opportunity for them to give back to the community that they built,” said Batey. “I never dreamed that it would be what it is today.”
