Sturbridge Senior Center 480 Main Street, Sturbridge
The mission of the Sturbridge/Fiskdale Senior Center is to provide a wide range of valuable, high-quality services and programs to the aging population in town. They promote participants’ health and welfare, provide opportunities for engaging in socialization, support their independence, and help them to continue to live full lives at home and in their community.
The existing Senior Center occupied the Snellville District #2 Schoolhouse built in 1874. Designed in the Italianate style, the building is constructed with load bearing brick walls set on a granite block foundation. It served as a primary school and meeting room until around 1949 when it transitioned to a meeting place for the Veterans of Foreign Wars, the Sturbridge Art Association, and the Civic Defense for Storage (Massachusetts Historical Commission Inventory Form No. STU.113). The building is identified as Individually Eligible for listing on the National Register of Historic Places; however, it is currently not registered. Snellville has served as the Sturbridge Senior Center Council on Aging since 1979.
The project doubled the size of the center through a 7,735 GSF addition and the renovation of the schoolhouse, for a total of 13,775 GSF, excluding the existing 3,000 GSF basement. The addition houses a new entry with a covered drop-off area, reception, lounge, restrooms, offices, and a multipurpose room and kitchen. The first floor of the existing building is an open exercise room. The second floor includes a large group meeting room, the Game Room, flexible office space, and a “puzzle room” in the addition overlooking the lounge. The original schoolhouse exterior has been restored, and the interior monumental stair retained and refurbished to meet code and accessibility requirements.
