The District will be opening up The 55 Activity Centre to the general public daily on afternoons and evenings, but members of the Squamish Seniors Society aren't impressed.
Once pandemic restrictions are lifted and public facilities are able to reopen again, the municipality is planning to open up the 55 every day from 3 p.m. onwards to the public as a neighbourhood centre.
There will also be dedicated youth programming on Thursday and Friday evenings.
This will be a pilot project and will be re-evaluated once the new youth centre opens in 2021.
Before these changes, StrongStart, a play-based learning program for children, was moved to The 55 as well due to renovations happening at the program's space in Ecole Squamish Elementary. The program is expected to leave The 55 at the end of June, which is when upgrades at the elementary are expected to be completed.
Some say all these changes have been without discussion with seniors.
It's leaving those who helped build much of the town without a place to call their own, according to Nelson Winterburn, a director speaking on behalf of the Squamish Seniors Society.
"In my opinion, it's a broken system and it's directed towards getting the seniors totally out of that building," said Winterburn.
The immediate effect is that it could greatly impact evening programming for seniors, he said.
In addition to some very strong words about the situation, he noted that he and the society have been very frustrated with the process.
They've written letters to the District without — to Winterburn's knowledge — any acknowledgement from the municipality.
"It's disgusting," he said, describing what he considered the lack of collaboration from the District.
He said there was no consideration for seniors' needs in the decision-making process, and they were just informed of the results after the fact.
Winterburn acknowledged there may be space issues for youth and other members of the community, and said seniors are willing to talk about it. However, they're not willing to be just an afterthought.
"I'm not opposed to discussing something, but I think there should be a seniors-first attitude and then, 'What can we do?'" he said.
"I don't have the answer, but how can we work together to resolve it?"
On the other hand, Mayor Karen Elliott said there's a shortage of public space.
"We only have a limited number of facilities, and when they open up, we are in the short term going to have to ask people to share their space," Elliott told The Chief.
She said there is capacity in The 55 to host people of younger ages.
"We note that there are a number of at-risk groups in our community — seniors, who've been isolated through this — and youth," Elliott said.
The pandemic has been especially hard on these two groups. Seniors have been cut off from many of their loved ones due to their increased risk. On the other hand, youth have had their schooling disrupted and many important events like graduation have been affected, she said.
"We're going to try and look after everybody's needs," said Elliott. "But we're going to have to ask people to extend some generosity and share their space for a little while. There's not unlimited capacity in the District to house all the groups that need to be housed, and we need to take care of every age group."
In a follow-up email, Elliott said that the District is committed to giving seniors priority during the day at The 55.
However, she said the centre sits "mostly empty in the evening" while the Brennan Park Recreation Centre is often overly busy.
There will be protocols in place to make sure groups can co-exist in a happy and respectful manner, she added.
Elliott also had words about the seniors' reactions.
"We have heard the concerns of a small group of seniors, and we don't wish to dismiss them," she wrote.
"The 2017 seniors centre revitalization study did indicate, however, that there is a broader group of seniors in Squamish open to embracing inter-generational opportunities and space sharing at The 55. We are hopeful that evening use of The 55 by the whole community will be embraced, so that The 55 can continue to be a welcoming facility, and contribute to the broader definition of community."
