Senior center in Manassas getting its first-ever facelift

People who use the Manassas Senior Center are seeing work on an expansion that just got underway. Men with heavy construction equipment started the job of building the 1,800-square-foot addition shortly after a recent groundbreaking ceremony at the center concluded.

The $600,000 expansion is scheduled to be completed in December. It will include room to run the aerobics, belly dancing, line dancing, tap dancing, yoga and tai chi classes that are currently bursting the seams of the senior center. The center will remain open during construction.

“It’s a large room. It’s going to be able to accommodate a larger group than any of our rooms in the building can accommodate,” said Susan Gilbert, Manassas Senior Center Site Manager. “The purpose of the extension … is to add more room to our building and create more programming. We are dedicating this room to fitness. All of those programs will be able to fit in that room.”

Speaking on behalf of the Prince William Board of County Supervisors, Chairman Corey Stewart said he was glad to see the project begin. “Prince William County is delighted to be able to do this for our most senior members of our community.”

According to a county news release, money for the senior center came from proffers given by Elm Street Development, which is building the nearby Walker Station, a mixed-use apartment development. Proffers are voluntary contributions developers make to the county to offset any adverse impacts their development might have on the community.

“Elm Street Development has also put in in-kind contributions of having staff people – their own engineers, their own professional development folks – to be involved every step of the way up to this point, making sure that we’re getting the most value for our money; and that we’re getting a project that is going to be positive for the users of the senior center,” said Coles District Supervisor Marty Nohe.

The Coles and Brentsville magisterial districts, as well as the City of Manassas and the Friends of the Manassas Senior Center, contributed money to install a new sprinkler system and upgrade the bathrooms to bring them into compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act.

Nohe said it’s time the senior center got some attention. “This facility is nearly 30 years old and during that time, Prince William County has grown by nearly a quarter-million people. This is the first major expansion this facility has ever had; so, it’s going to be a great relief valve so we can make sure we allow seniors to continue to have fun here even as our population grows over the next 30 years.”

Prince William supervisors John Jenkins, Maureen Caddigan and Jeanine Lawson also attended the ceremony.

Find more information about the Woodbridge and Manassas Senior Centers on the Prince William Area Agency on Aging website, or call the Manassas Senior Center at 703-792-6405 or the Woodbridge Senior Center at 703-792-5081