SAN ANTONIO - A San Antonio city councilman is fighting for the seniors of his district.. As News 4 WOAI's Darlene Dorsey explains, he has a small window of time to make that happen because a chunk of money might be available right now.
Don Gabriel calls it the everything room - a place where all senior citizens play bingo, dance and eat prepared meals.
Space is tight inside the Northeast Senior Center and people constantly tell Gabriel how much they enjoy spending time with others inside the center. Gabriel says he would love to use those comments to help market the center, but that would draw more people when the center is dealing with an overflow of visitors daily.
He says some people eat meals at the computer stations or in the library when there’s no more space in the dining hall.
Councilman Carlton Soules agrees with a proposed 2012 bond project aimed at building a new 10 million dollar senior center in District 10. About six year ago, he says the city bought approximately six and a half acres near the corner Thousand Oaks and Scarsdale in hopes of building a center.
Gabriel has worked at the senior center for two years and enjoys talking about the people who visit and the activities they enjoy. Gabriel realized he had artistic talent after taking a drawing class at the center. He says seniors pay taxes, worked hard and deserve some quality of life.
A regular visitor, Ida, stops by several times a week. But Gabriel worries she and other might get hurt on exercise equipment because walls separate the equipment and there are not enough workers or volunteers to make sure the seniors don’t get hurt. He would like to see a new facility with one large, open space for workouts.
On Saturday, members of the city’s bond committee plan to tour project sites before council makes final recommendation—on several projects slated for voter approval.
