NLV senior center idea not flying

By Mike Trask

Wednesday, Nov. 19, 2008 | 2 a.m.

North Las Vegas will soon have its third community center for residents of all ages but it doesn’t have any reserved for the exclusive use of its seniors.

City Councilwoman Stephanie Smith wants to change that.

She knows it would likely cost millions of dollars — money the city doesn’t have — but thinks a community center for seniors should be part of the city’s long-range planning.

The city’s newest community center — the Sky View Multigenerational Center — is scheduled to open in 2010 at Centennial Parkway and Statz Street.

Smith has been floating the idea for years of a center dedicated entirely to residents 50 and older and had suggested that Sky View be a seniors facility. The city decided to get maximum use of the center by allowing people of all ages to use it.

The 36,000-square-foot Sky View center will include multipurpose rooms, a pool, a 5,000-square-foot fitness room, a dance room and a demonstration kitchen.

The center is being be built on 36 acres, which will include sports fields, an outdoor pool and a dog park.

Smith, 51, said the new facility will fulfill half of her wish. But she still yearns for a special place for seniors.

“It’s something just for them,” she said. “The seniors prefer different activities and different hours. It would be a nice thing to offer and a city of our size should be offering it.”

Smith has returned to the topic on the eve of what could become a tight mayoral race in the city. She is one of three candidates, running against fellow council members Shari Buck and William Robinson. The primary election will be held in April.

Smith has been on the council since 1997 and term limits prevent her from running again. Mayor Mike Montandon also cannot run again because of term limits.

Smith raised the issue of a seniors center at a recent town hall meeting, but said it had nothing to do with running for mayor.

“We are the only municipality (in the region) that doesn’t have a seniors-only center,” she said.

Buck dismisses the idea of a seniors-only community center. “My view is, let’s get everyone using it together,” she said. “She wants a seniors center but I don’t know that everybody else wants it.”

Indeed, the suggestion of a seniors center gets mixed reaction from seniors in town.

Josephine Bryant, a longtime city resident never afraid to give opinions, said she sometimes participates in activities at the Silver Mesa Recreation Center and doesn’t see the need for a new, expensive facility.

“Stephanie wants to run for mayor,” Bryant said. “That’s what she’s after.”

Ron Whipple, who is “closer to 80 than 70,” said he doesn’t enjoy the city’s recreation centers because “they are for the youth.”

Bob Mersereau, 72 and part of the North Las Vegas Alliance of Homeowners Associations and Concerned Citizens, is intrigued by the idea of a seniors center, but says there also need to be places for children to hang out.

“You might as well get as much use as possible out of a building,” he said.

There are five county and city senior centers within five miles of North Las Vegas City Hall. However, they are near the downtown area of North Las Vegas, at least 15 miles from the northern sections of North Las Vegas.

Municipalities typically define senior as older than 50.

More than 42 percent of people living in the Las Vegas Valley are 55 or older. North Las Vegas has a younger population: About 30 percent of the city’s 210,000 residents are 55 or older.

Las Vegas has eight senior centers and Henderson has one. Henderson is also building the Heritage Park Senior Center, scheduled to open next year. A spokeswoman for Henderson said the senior center serves more than 300 people each day and delivers meals to another 220.

No matter the sentiments on whether seniors should have their own center, North Las Vegas doesn’t have the money to build one. The city’s consolidated tax revenue, which accounts for more than a quarter of its general fund budget, has fallen 9 percent since last July.

Still, Smith said it’s important to plan for a senior center for when the economy improves. She said her grandmother loves going to a senior center in Illinois where day trips and special activities are geared to the elderly population.

“I’ve seen this in many other communities,” Smith said. “It can be great for seniors.”