COA/Community Center Throws Open Its Doors

Residents both young and old flocked to the opening of the Council on Aging/Community Center building on June 5, anxious to take a peek at the new facility that was first proposed fourteen years ago.

The new center, located at 8 Andrews Ave. across Route 20 from Russell’s Garden Center and near the Local, is the new home for all events related to the Council on Aging, but also has spaces for organizations like Wayland Recreation, Circuit Labs, and Wicked Cool for Kids to host events and programs. 

After the ceremonial ribbon-cutting, speakers included several town officials as well as state Rep. Carmine Gentile and State Sen. Jaime Eldridge.

“My earliest memory of this project is from 2011, when I went to my very first meeting as a new member of the Council on Aging,” said Select Board Chair Carol Martin. At that meeting Sterling showed up “with a big smile and handful of charts and said, ‘I’ve got great news! Just toured the daycare building off Route 20 and the Town Administrator says if you think you can rehab it, it’s yours, because otherwise the town’s going to tear it down.’” Sterling was credited and lauded throughout the ceremony and received a citation from Sen. Eldridge on behalf of the Council on Aging.

The outdoor ceremony lasted only about a half hour in the afternoon heat. Afterwards, attendees could enter and explore the air-conditioned building. In addition to private offices for the CoA staff, the center includes a screened-in patio, indoor fireplace area and two large dividable conference rooms, one with a large-screen TV. A wall exhibit displays Wayland’s pre-colonial history and the Algonquian presence that preceded the Massachusetts Bay Colony.

The festivities lasting several more hours included activities hosted by organizations ranging from the Recreation Department to the Wayland Children’s and Parent Association as well as food from the Bagel Table, the Local, Giacomo’s, and Kona Ice Cream Truck, and music by Wayland High teacher and DJ John Berry. The evening ended with a performance from renowned illusionist Lyn Dillies.

Town and state officials at the ribbon-cutting ceremony for the much anticipated new Council on Aging/Community Center building.