'Hamilton House' is longest-serving drop-in center for seniors in Pacific Northwest
With a 50th-birthday celebration on its heels, a University District institution is closing its doors for good.
Despite efforts to explore new funding methods, the University District Senior Center's storied tenure will come to an end in December.
KEEPING THE SPIRIT
Fondly known by community members as the Tallmadge Hamilton House - an homage to one of the center's oldest benefactors - the nonprofit, drop-in senior center is the oldest of its like in the Pacific Northwest.
"If it weren't for a [drop-in senior center] in San Francisco," exclaimed program director Marilyn Michael, laughing, "we'd be the oldest on the entire coast! So we're just about the first."
Owned and operated by the University Kiwanis Club, the center has offered an array of unique programs over the years for North End seniors for a small fee - as little as $2 per class. Those who wander through the doors on any given weekday could find themselves in the middle of a yoga lesson or honing their typing skills, perhaps learning Spanish or even discussing classic literature.
This is not your average senior center.
"Most people think of senior centers as just a place to play pinochle. Not us, though," said Michael, 52, who herself leads a weekly writing workshop at the center. "This center has very intellectual and engaged people that come through the doors. We don't want that to go away."
DWINDLING MEMBERSHIP
Michael said it's a rough time for all senior centers not publicly financed. The University District Senior Center is not operated by Senior Services like the centers in Ballard or the Central Area, so the center relies completely on Kiwanis Club dollars, membership fees and private donations.
The problem, however, is a part of a much larger concern for organizations like the Kiwanis Club and other community-based social associations, according to Michael.
"Kiwanis, Elks, Lions - all these organizations are struggling," she said, recalling her childhood routine of attending her local Elks Lodge on a weekly basis with her family and neighbors. "People just aren't in the habit of frequenting these places anymore. They're not joining their community's social organizations anymore. It'll have a damaging, but dilatory effect. People just won't be as social and a part of their communities."
Though the University Kiwanis Club's numbers have, too, seen new lows, the club claims it is not in a similar financial bind.
"We have lots of money," said Ted Taniguchi, who is serving his third term as the club's president. "Though the center is struggling, there has been no ripple effect [for the Kiwanis]."
CHANGING DEMOGRAPHICS
The center estimates that only a handful of its visitors actually live in the University District, while attendance numbers are waning. The center averages just 15 or 20 people at potlucks of late, while welcoming more than 50 or 60 on average just a few years ago.
"The demographic of the area is just different," Michael said.
With senior centers in Wallingford and Greenwood, the staff at the University District center hopes its regulars will endure the transition.
"Many of our members are survivors," said executive director Barbara Clarke, who's been with the center since the late 1980s. "They're sad we're closing."
Seattle City Councilmember Tom Rasmussen shares her sentiment.
"I was so disappointed to hear [the center] was closing," said Rasmussen, whose two-part study on Seattle-area seniors has shown a need for more senior centers, with an aging community growing steadily.
"My hope is that many of those seniors continue to go to the Wallingford and Greenwood centers, and I'll do my best to help them transition in any way I can," he said.
Though just a few short miles away, Clarke believes such a transition will not be so easy for some.
"It will be hard for some of our members to change their habits," she said. "Surely, some of our seniors will be left behind."
Washington native Diane Morgan has been frequenting the center for more than four years now and does not look forward to such a change in scenery.
"None of us are real happy about having to go somewhere else. I like the people here," said Morgan, who regularly participates in activities at the center three or four times each week. "It's very important to have senior centers nearby. We'd be isolated without them."
FUTURE STILL UNCLEAR
The plans for the Kiwanis-owned building, at 5225 15th Ave. N.E., are still up in the air, according to Taniguchi, though the club is currently exploring options for the property.
"We've had one unsolicited offer to purchase [the property]," he said, noting that the Puget Sound Community School has expressed interest in leasing the space. "It's a starting point."
The future of the center's funding allocation is also up for consideration, according to Taniguchi.
Both Clarke and Michael hope to continue serving the aging community as consultants to other centers, helping to plan and promote new activities and offering a possible solution to spending uncertainties.
Nevertheless, the center will fail to reach its 50th birthday - a shame, especially to Morgan, who was highly anticipating the celebration: "We have bang-up parties!"
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