September 2024

If you are following the Birmingham Senior/Recreation Center building project currently being developed by the city, you realize the wonderful opportunity Birmingham has to better serve seniors, and the challenges bringing the plans to fruition.

Through many hours of brainstorming and creative thinking by dozens of people, many of them volunteers with subject matter expertise, we are making progress. The city is committed to providing a space for senior services, but the path isn’t always straight. With a common goal, and good people working towards that goal, we are confident we will soon have a facility to be proud of.

I spoke at a recent city commission meeting about just how long seniors have been patiently waiting for a proper space to gather, connect with other seniors, and attend programs that promote health and well-being. I provided a series of statements from a report about Next and Birmingham Senior Services. In the report, there were facts shared about the older, outdated Midvale building, the quickly growing senior population, the neighboring communities all with proper senior facilities and the disproportionate use of tax dollars for the schools and other city amenities in comparison to the support offered to seniors.

The report I referenced was from February of 2013.

It was generated by an Ad Hoc Committee with almost 20 participants working for over a year to thoroughly study what senior services are offered and what may be lacking. The final conclusion and recommendation in the report was to find a new location for senior services to properly meet the needs of a growing demographic.

That 2013 report could have been written today as all of the same concerns still apply, and have only become more pronounced.

At that time, Next (or BASCC as it was called) had 1,000 members and 10,000 square feet of program space. Today, Next has over 2,300 members and serves another 330 residents through our Support Service Department....all in the same 10,000 square foot space. With 40 percent or 8,400 residents over the age of 50 in Birmingham alone, this project is very welcome and long overdue.

Through multiple surveys, we know that today’s older residents, members and non-members alike, want an up-to-date facility with the amenities seen in neighboring centers where senior services are traditionally a function of the municipality, i.e., a building with enough room where programs do not get capped or canceled because of space constraints, fitness equipment, including a safe walking track, to be used year round, a welcoming lobby and a room large enough for Next’s very well attended speaker series were the technology is reliable.

No one is looking for big and fancy, but a right-sized space that is reflective of the community we live in.

To say that seniors are excited and looking forward to that new space is an understatement. Seniors are grateful that this group of city commissioners have made a new facility for senior services one of their three top priorities. Working with the city commission and city staff, the Ad Hoc Committee overseeing the project and the Next board, we are getting closer to turning this long-term goal into a reality. We just need to keep reminding ourselves that the best things in life are never easy.

Cris Braun is Executive Director of Birmingham Next