Brick Township’s new Senior Center, under renovation on Aurora Place, April 2023. (Photo: Shorebeat)
After decades of debate – and rental fees paid for space elsewhere – Brick Township will finally have a senior center of its own starting this week.
Mayor Lisa Crate will cut the ceremonial ribbon to mark the completion of the Senior Center building, which will be located in a former volunteer EMS building on Aurora Place, off Cedar Bridge Avenue. The final stages of a lengthy construction and renovation effort were completed this summer after the building was re-acquired by the township in 2019.
The building will also be operated as a southern base for EMS vehicles since its two large bays, originally installed for the volunteer squad years ago, make it an ideal locations.
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The Aurora Place building has a long history which ultimately ended in litigation. The now-defunct Brick Volunteer EMS organization acquired the building for $1 from the township in the 1970s with the caveat that ownership would revert back to the municipal government if the squad ceased to exist or no longer needed the building. It had originally been sold to the Breton Woods fire company under the same policy. Brick Volunteer EMS was the final iteration of a combination of several volunteer squads that once served Brick residents, which was replaced gradually by a paid squad run under the auspices of the police department.
Brick Township’s new Senior Center, under renovation on Aurora Place, April 2023. (Photo: Shorebeat)
Brick was ultimately successful in its legal effort to take back possession of the building, which was quickly announced as the home of a new senior center with the capability of serving as a secondary base for Brick Police EMS employees. Renovation was expected to move quickly, however the township encountered a number of issues once engineers and Public Works crews got into the facility.
By this spring, new walls, restrooms and facilities for the senior center had been installed, however engineers continued to work on some structural issues that were eventually solved. The township primarily used in-house crews from the Public Works Department to complete the renovations, for both cost savings and to put a local touch on the facility, which will house senior activities, meals and special events.
Crate will cut the ribbon marking the opening of the building this Thursday, Oct. 19 at 1:30 p.m. The address of the facility is 500 Aurora Drive, and the public is invited.
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