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All Senior Centers are now open

“…the design of the Senior Center allows us to integrate emotional, physical and social components to promote interaction, learning and growth. The center exudes comfort, creates energy and beckons visitors back. In one word, it’s home.”

—Dinaz Mansuri, Program Director for the West Town Logan Square Senior Center

Brick by brick and with the help and effort of a large group of professionals the five Senior Satellite Centers are now open for public use. The centers are the result of a collaborative effort between the Chicago Public Building Commission and the Chicago Department on Aging which began in the fall of 2001.

The Senior Satellite Centers are civic buildings designed to provide socially engaging activities to individuals 60 years and older. The locations for the centers were carefully chosen in the heart of the communities with the highest density of seniors, those in most need of social services, with the goal of maximizing accessibility and with the determination to consolidate the existing urban fabric. Abbott Park, Austin, Englewood, Portage Park, and West Town were the selected locations.

Conceived as a set of facilities with a unified and architecturally coherent image, the Centers provide easily divisible open spaces lit by continuous clerestory glazing to balance ample natural light with privacy, and simple volumes articulated by subtly textured, durable materials in response to the scale and character of the local context.

Monday | 25 October 2004 | STL News