Resort day centre open by Christmas

SENIOR citizens are counting down the days to Christmas – because that's when they should be able to move into their brand new modern day centre.It was after their festive season party last year they had to move out of the old building before it was demolished, and now hopes are high that they will be in the replacement one for this year's celebrations.

SENIOR citizens are counting down the days to Christmas – because that's when they should be able to move into their brand new modern day centre.

It was after their festive season party last year they had to move out of the old building before it was demolished, and now hopes are high that they will be in the replacement one for this year's celebrations.

Felixstowe Town Council and Orwell Housing Association, in conjunction with the Housing Corporation, are working on the project to provide the new drop-in centre for pensioners in Orwell Road, Felixstowe.

The scheme, costing a six-figure sum, will also feature four flats – desperately-needed social housing in the town centre for couples and single people.

Mike Stokell, chairman of the council's town members committee, said the work was on schedule and it was hoped the building would be ready by December.

He said: "We are delighted with the way the project is progressing and the build quality is excellent.

"It just shows what can be achieved in a partnership between commercial enterprise and a local authority.

"If everything keeps going to plan, the project will have gone from drawing board to completion inside two years.

"It will provide some excellent modern facilities for community use and especially for the older residents of our town through Felixstowe Old People's Welfare Association, but also four very much in demand social housing units in the town centre."

Mr Stokell paid tribute to the hard work of his fellow committee members in seeing the project to its current state, and also to town clerk Susan Robinson and technical advisor Rosemary Jones for their roles.

The day centre will occupy the ground floor and it is planned to be available in the evenings and weekends to other community groups and for meetings.

The old day centre had been a feature of the resort for the best part of a century. It was the last of a series of wooden buildings brought to the town – others have been destroyed by fire.

Surveys had shown the building needed a huge amount of money spent on repairs and to bring it up to modern standards, and even more work would have been likely within a few years.

Senior citizens currently have a temporary drop-in centre at the United Reformed Church.