When the Hamlin Senior Citizens group meets each month in the summertime, they don't gather in a senior center or a public meeting room.
Firefighters have to back trucks out of a firehouse to make room for the roughly 100 members who reliably attend.
Right now, that's the best option the town has for accommodating the group. Over at Hamlin Town Hall on Lake Road, the largest available space is its gymnasium, which cannot accommodate the group. The space isn't even big enough for most gym activities, for that matter.
That's just one of the reasons the town is eyeing construction of a community center, said Hamlin Supervisor Steve Baase. Another reason: a state grant program could help the town cover the estimated $7 million cost, which it might not otherwise be able to afford.
"We're a small town. Not,you know, as rich as some of your bigger towns or whatever," Baase said. "We're way over here on the west side. And this state grant will be huge. I mean, it'll be half of the cost of what we plan on doing."
When lawmakers enacted this year's state budget, they included $100 million in grant money to support building or renovating municipal or nonprofit community centers. The grants will be awarded in amounts between $250,000 and $15 million, and recipients must provide a 20% match.
Hamlin is one of several towns in Monroe County pursuing the grant funding — Henrietta and Brighton, which are two of the largest Rochester suburbs without community centers, have also submitted applications. They expect a decision from the state in November.
Baase said Hamlin had its engineers draw up plans for a community center several years ago, as the need for meeting and recreational space became increasingly apparent. Even the Town Board sometimes lacks adequate space for its public sessions.
"If we have a big meeting here in town ... we have to go and rent a gymnasium from a church in our area," Baase said.
Also, the 97-year-old former school that serves as Town Hall is not accessible to people with physical disabilities and is getting run down, he said.
What are they proposing?
Hamlin wants to build a roughly 16,000-square-foot facility that would combine the offices at Town Hall with a full-size gymnasium, a large meeting room, and more. It would be located next to Town Hall.
Officials are seeking roughly $3.5 million from the state for the proposal.
Brighton, like Hamlin, had already been planning for a community center before the grant program was announced. In 2021, the town hired a firm to perform a study on a potential community center. It analyzed a few options, but ultimately recommended a purpose-built facility designed to meet a variety of needs, located at Buckland Park on Westfall Road.
The town is seeking the maximum $15 million toward an estimated $25 million project. Supervisor Bill Moehle said the new facility could include meeting rooms, a commercial kitchen for things such as senior programs, a double gymnasium, an indoor track, and space for classes.
And to show the state that Brighton is serious, its Town Board approved borrowing $3 million to support the planning and development phase of the project.
"It's certainly my hope that we will proceed in any event," Moehle said. "Obviously, $15 million would have a huge positive financial impact for us, but the reality is ... this community has a need for improved, enhanced community space."
Henrietta has the highest-profile plan. The town wants to buy the Dome Arena on Calkins Road — once part of the former Monroe County Fairgrounds — and convert it to a community center.
Supervisor Stephen Schultz said several community groups have reached out to him inquiring about meeting or event space, but the town hasn't had anywhere that worked. Officials had been trying to figure out a way to have a community center when two things happened: The Dome Arena became available at a good price, and the state launched the community center grants program.
"To be honest, without that funding, we can't afford to do it," Schultz said.
Henrietta's proposal would leave the domed area and its concessions area essentially the same, though the kitchen area would be secured. It would divide up the rest of the facility into, among other things, a floor hockey rink and pickleball courts, offices for community groups, multi-purpose rooms, and additional space for the town's highly popular gymnastics program.
Henrietta does have a recreation center, but it serves a different purpose than the community center. Some of the more popular offerings, including the gymnastics programs, could use more space.
"Currently, pickleball competes with every other sport in the rec center, and so they have limited times they could play," Schultz said. "If the only thing they're competing with is floor hockey, there'd be a lot more available times."
