East Rockaway senior center officially reopens

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East Rockaway seniors may notice some changes to the Charles H. Formont Senior Center, which reopened earlier this month.

After three months of renovations, the facility now has new non-slip vinyl flooring, as well as new floors and blinds. Construction crews also repaired the roof and the ceiling to fix leaks. Additionally, the senior center will soon get a new door opener, which will comply with the Americans with Disabilities Act.

The “big ticket item,” according to Village Engineer Juan Garcia, however, is the addition of a new standby generator. Garcia said that if there is ever another power outage like the Northeast blackout that happened on Aug. 14, 2003, older adults could gather at the senior center to cool off.

“This would become the area they would be safe,” Garcia said.

The $200,000 project was funded by a Nassau County block grant, which village officials applied for two years ago.

The senior center offers social events for older adults and a community room for nonprofit organizations, such as the East Rockaway Kiwanis Club and Girl Scouts.