A new sign showing the location for a new Kamloops Seniors Community Centre on Cottonwood Ave (Photo via Victor Kaisar)

The new Kamloops Seniors Community Centre is officially opening its doors today, Sept. 9.

Located inside the Cottonwood Community Center on the North Shore, the facility is the first project to be completed under the Build Kamloops program. Announced in June, the City officially took over the lease of the facility at 307–730 Cottonwood Avenue on Aug. 1.

“Almost one-third of Kamloops residents are over 60 years of age, so we are thrilled we can offer more opportunities for continued connection and programming for seniors,” said Linda Stride, the City’s Recreation, Health and Wellness Supervisor.

Operated by the Center for Seniors Information, Executive Director Brandi Allen says their goal is to provide additional programs for seniors beyond what was already available at Cottonwood.

“What we’re hoping to do is build on what was already built there, and really fine tune some of the programming and some of the drop in for seniors,” Allen said. “Things like that.”

The City says there will be several drop-in programs offered allowing seniors to play games, work on puzzles, enjoy coffee and tea, and connect with other seniors. There will also be programs like yoga, tai chi, and dance that require pre-registration, with more details available here.

Allen says CSI Kamloops has a lot more space in its new location allowing to expand programming.

“We had the Brock Activity Centre for a long time, and we were very luck to be out there and have that space but it was basically one space. We were very limited in what we could do in that one space simultaneously,” she said.

“There are going to be things happening at the same time in different spaces and different rooms. I mean there is 12,000 square feet, there are four separate spaces that can have things all at once.”

While close to a bus stop, Allen says the City also plans to expand the parking lot at Cottonwood to accommodate an expected increase in vehicles.

At the same time, CSI Kamloops is also streamlining a transportation program its launched through finding from the United way.