Killarney Seniors Communit Centre
CitySpaces carried out a feasibility study on behalf of Vancouver Board of Parks and Recreation for a potential 10,000 square foot seniors centre addition to the Killarney Community Centre. The dream of building a seniors centre, to serve a growing population in the southeast area of Vancouver, was alive since the early 1990s, however, events frustrated previous attempts to develop such a dedicated seniors
centre. Recent and anticipated changes in the area prompted a renewed investigation.
It has long been understood and supported by such wide reaching organizations as the World Health Organization that social participation and social support are strongly connected to good health and well-being throughout one’s life including during the senior years. Seniors centres and programs allow older citizens to participate in leisure, social, cultural and spiritual activities in their community and allows them to continue to exercise their competence, to enjoy respect and esteem, to maintain or establish supportive and caring relationships, and to foster social integration.
During this seniors centre feasibility study CitySpaces Consulting had the support of a six person “project steering committee” made up of representatives from the Southeast Vancouver Seniors’ Arts and Cultural Society, the Killarney Community Centre Society, and staff of the Park Board and City of Vancouver.
The work undertaken by the consultants and the project steering committee demonstrated that there are three important factors that underpin the appropriateness of building a dedicated space for seniors, ideally as a wing of the Killarney Community Centre:
- An existing “pent-up demand” for additional space within Victoria-Fraserview/Killarney and general southeast Vancouver area to meet the recreational / social needs of the 55+ population. Many programs are at capacity or are over-subscribed.
- The 55+ population in Victoria-Fraserview/Killarney will continue to increase, at a faster rate than the city as-a- whole. An additional 3,100 residents age 55 or greater are projected for the area by 2021.
- There is a shared willingness and strong interest among groups and organizations that provide services to seniors in the Victoria-Fraserview/Killarney and general southeastern Vancouver to continue to partner in a new facility.
CLIENT: Vancouver Board of Parks and Recreation
