By Scott Taylor,Staff Writer

LEWISTON – There was a day when “multi-purpose” was more than the building’s name.

The Multi-Purpose Center was a true community center, said Anne Kemper of the Lewiston Adult Learning Center. The center has offices and classrooms downstairs. It shares the rest of the building with Lewiston Senior Citizens, SeniorsPlus, recreation programs and Longley Elementary School.

“That’s what it was designed to be, bringing the young and the old together in one building. There was a collegiality in the building, a friendliness that will be missed.”

The building would remain, but much of the space would be turned over to the school district, making more room for Longley School students. That’s the plan, according to budget-cutting measures being discussed by the City Council.

Programs for senior citizens would move to the Lewiston Armory.

That includes offices and community rooms where seniors gather daily to play pinochle, bridge and beano.

Adult Education, with its downstairs classrooms and Kemper’s office, would stay.

“But something special would be missing,” Kemper said.

That would be the senior citizens. Many of them said this week they were worried that the move would be the end of their programs.

Volunteer Martha Kontos, 71, has helped serve meals at the center for the past six years. She lives nearby and walks there, but wouldn’t be able to make the trek to the Armory.

“I won’t be able to come,” she said. “It’s how I get out of the house, and I don’t work anyplace else. But I can’t walk all that way. Unless someone picks me up, I can’t go anymore.”

Others said parking at the Armory would be a problem.

“They just don’t have the space for cars like they do here,” said Yvette Audet, vice president of the Lewiston Senior Citizens Board. “The people who come here, they can’t walk a long way. They want a place to park, right up front, or they don’t come.”

She said the board had scheduled a meeting Monday to discuss its options.

SeniorsPlus, which provides daily lunches at the center, could make the move as well. City Administrator Jim Bennett said Thursday SeniorsPlus was not included in the city’s planned move.

Vivian Howe, community services manager for SeniorsPlus, said the group is considering its options if it has to move.

“It just depends on what’s out there,” Howe said. “We haven’t had to look in quite a while, so we don’t know what might be available.”

Many lunch-goers Thursday said they’d follow.

“We like it here well enough, but we’d go where they go,” said Joseph Montminy, 75, of Fisher Avenue. “You’ve gotta eat, no matter where you need to go to get it.”

Copy the Story Link