COVINGTON, Ga. — The grand opening of a major addition and renovation of its Senior Center near Turner Lake is the latest phase in the half-century evolution of the county’s Senior Services department.
Current and former county officials helped cut the ribbon to ceremonially open a 5,300-square-foot addition to the Josephine E. Brown Senior Center on Turner Lake Road Wednesday, Dec. 9.
The $1.7 million project increases the Senior Center’s total space to almost 12,000 square feet, said officials with general contractor Sunbelt Builders.
New space in the facility includes a large fellowship hall and dining room with south side bay windows overlooking Turner Lake; new administrative offices; and an expanded kitchen facility.
A renovation of the original 6,500-square-foot building included conversion of part of it into a media center and a quilting room, officials said.
Proceeds from the county’s 2017 Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax (SPLOST) provided the funding.
The center has been named for Josephine Brown — who headed the department for 46 years — since her retirement in 2016.
She told attendees of a ribbon-cutting ceremony that she needed a job in 1970 when she applied to lead a pilot program to provide meals for Covington seniors.
It evolved over the years to include programs and activities for seniors and went through several locations.
“We had to go through so many substandard buildings,” Brown said.
In 2001, the original Senior Center was completed which Brown said was “dream accomplished for the moment.”
District 4 County Commissioner J.C. Henderson, in whose district the center operates, recognized former County Chairman Keith Ellis for his efforts to include funding for the addition in the 2017 SPLOST.
Ellis said the expansion had been a topic of discussion for almost two decades before “seniors wearing their red shirts” to commission meetings helped convince the board to include the funding.
Senior Services director Freda Reed now leads the center that offers on-site and home-delivered meals to Newton County residents 55 and over.
It also offers its 300 members classes on ceramics, arts and crafts, quilting, sewing, exercise, drama, dancing and more.
State, federal and local governments provide funding for on-site and most home delivered meals, staff, vehicles, and some basic recreational programs.
In addition, the nonprofit Newton County Senior Services Inc. provides funding for extra programs and activities.
For more information on meals, programs and fees, call 770-787-0038 or visit https://www.co.newton.ga.us/227/Senior-Services.
