What many people in Knoxville think is a senior center is just a nutrition site according to Marion County Senior Nutrition Director Dawn Allspach-Kline.
When the basement of City Hall was initially renovated it housed a place for older adults to congregate, but over time that effort ran out of money and was dissolved. The nutrition site, which had moved into the space by then, naturally took on many of the duties of a senior center, allowing seniors to spend time together and participate in activities.The recently formed Senior Center Non-profit, spearheaded by Allspach-Kline and Senior Board Member Rick Kingery is working to fill the need for a more comprehensive senior center. The group has been gathering input and hopes to eventually construct a building, with privately raised funds, to serve many of the needs of all the older adults in Marion County. Allspach-Kline says studies have shown time and again the benefits of an active lifestyle in a person’s later years. The vision for the Center will be shared by members at an auction held at the National Sprint Car Hall of Fame and Museum on Friday, September 30 at 6:00 p.m. Kingery says tickets for the auction are going on sale soon.