Oxford Seniors are on the fence about whether to stay in their current building or move to a proposed intergenerational center, dubbed the TRI Community Center, just 350 yards away.
In 2022, Oxford City Council proposed using American Rescue Plan Act funds to renovate and expand the TRI Community Center. The proposed expansion included plans for new basketball courts, classrooms and other spaces, as well as a wing for Oxford Seniors to occupy. The current Oxford Seniors building would then have been used for employees with the Talawanda School District who would have been displaced by a proposed Amtrak station near Chestnut Fields.
Since then, the city has instead opted to go forward with a planned train station which will not require purchasing the Nelson Morrow Building, leaving the senior center to decide whether to relocate to a proposed facility as part of a larger development or to remain the sole tenant of its current building.
Edna Southard, president of the Oxford Seniors board, said the organization tries to cater to three different parts of the aging population: the “go-gos,” the “go-slows” and the “no-gos.” Not everyone ages at the same rate, she said, and the needs of each group differ based on their levels of activity and mobility.
“Some of the board feels that we might end up serving only the go-go part of the population,” Southard said. “We want to serve all our potential members, so we’re having discussions about how best we can serve our constituents.”
Southard said Oxford Seniors still needs time to make a final decision on whether to move. The initial drawings for the new TRI building could be done in the next few weeks, Doug Curry, the board president for TRI, said. Then the board will start showing it to community partners to gauge interest and start fundraising.
The TRI Center is owned by Talawanda Recreation, Inc. (TRI), but its sole tenant for now is the City of Oxford itself. Casey Wooddell, director of Oxford Parks and Recreation, says his department’s programming is limited by the available gym space in Oxford. While the Talawanda School District lets the city use its facilities for programming like the basketball league, there still isn’t enough space for every organization.
With the expansion of the TRI Center, Wooddell said that could soon change. The city could use the additional courts at the TRI Center to hold its youth basketball league and start hosting indoor pickleball and volleyball. The current plans also include an indoor walking track and a larger fitness facility, both of which Wooddell said fill a major need in the community.
“It’s hard to serve the entire community with our fitness room that’s the size of a small classroom rather than being the size of your typical fitness room,” Wooddell said.
Curry said the proposed expansion will cost $8-10 million. An initial draft is being completed by MSA Architecture, Curry said.
“It’s just a great opportunity to have a huge impact on the area,” he said. “A lot of the youth can’t get gyms in the winter because the schools are already using the gyms. This would be a great addition as well as serving the senior center [which is] right next door to it.”
The current facility the Oxford Senior Center uses is owned by the City of Oxford, which Southard said leases it to the nonprofit for a low fee. On Feb. 7, the board had a strategic planning session to help decide whether relocating is the best decision, and Southard said they’ll see the results from that session in the next few weeks.
“This is a major investment,” Southard said. “… We’re all enthusiastic about the potential idea of joining forces with a real community center [but] is it even feasible? Can we afford it?”
Talawanda Recreation, Inc. became a formal nonprofit organization in 1966 to provide recreational opportunities for the community, especially children. Groundbreaking on the organization’s current building at the intersection of Fairfield Road and McGuffey Ave began in 1969. Since then, Curry says the building hasn’t seen any major updates.
