SOWEGA Council on Aging request for use of Thornton Gym shot down by Albany Commission

ALBANY – It’s back to the drawing board for the SOWEGA Council on Aging after the Albany City Commission shot down a request to hold exercise classes in a city gym facility.

The Council on Aging sold its West Society Avenue facility to the Phoebe Putney Health System and will be out of the building in early March. The agency had requested the use of space at the Thornton Community Center and Gym, located at 210 Thornton Drive, for a pilot program as it shifts its services to other locations.

SCOA had already moved some of its services out of the 43,000-square-foot building. Some of those changes, such as providing vouchers for its senior meals program and eliminating on-site dining, were brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic.

City commissioners cited the short notice they were given for the request and concerns about the potential of disrupting activities at Thornton.

The request was to use the facility for senior exercise programs for a roughly brief period so as not to interfere with summer programs for children. 

“For me, this is simply a three-month agreement, a stop-gap,” Commissioner Chad Warbington said. “I think we have a lot of work to do about these things that have come up.”

Several commissioners expressed displeasure that they were notified about the proposal on Thursday, only five days before the issue came up for a vote.

“We should have been aware,” Commissioner Jon Howard said. “(They) knew months ago this was going to happen. It was inferred there were some other areas downtown that could have been used.”

Details were being worked out until the time commissioners were notified, City Manager Terreel Jacobs said. The city staff did not wish to broach the subject until they could answer all of the commissioners’ anticipated questions about the proposal.

Some of the seniors who use the facility also had questions. 

The move to Thornton would extend the drive by six miles for some who use the current faulty and would come during a time that the main bridge across the Flint River, the Oglethorpe Bridge, is closed.

The disruption in users’ routines also was cited.

“The first time our group went there, it was like home,” Albany resident Debbie Richardson said. “It was our community there. It was the one place in town (where) it was a very diverse community. We cared for each other. I am afraid that will be lost unless we meet downtown. One of the most stable elements in the community is senior citizens.”

SCOA has other options, including a downtown church, that it will pursue after the city’s denial, agency Executive Director Izzie Sadler said. The idea for utilizing Thornton was that it would be a first-time venture of joining up with the city and the Boys & Girls Clubs of Albany, which operates the Thornton site, she said.

“This is the first opportunity of this nature that has come to pass,” Sadler said.

SCOA put discussions with other entities on hold while it explored the Thornton option because the agency is seeking the city as a partner. The pilot program was a test case for that.

“If you say yes today, we’re friends,” she said. “If you say no today, we’re friends. We’re standing before you so we can offer a partnership. We brought people together. That is what we do, and we’re going to continue to do that. 

“If (you’re) not comfortable, we’re going to look at other options. We’re very open.”

Another criticism from some commissioners was the city’s donation of $3.3 million in special-purpose local-option sales tax revenue in 2016 for the renovation of the West Society Avenue facility, which they contend should be paid back to the city.

SCOA sold the building for $8 million, and the topic of the sales tax money was separate from the request for use of Thornton, Jacobs said.

Commissioners Diane Brown, Vilnis Gaines, Howard and Willie Weaver voted in opposition to the request to use the recreational facility. Mayor Bo Dorough, along with Commissioners Collete Jenkins and Warbington, voted yes.