Legal ownership of the Fairbanks Senior Center may soon change, with the Fairbanks City Council considering gifting the building and the land it sits on to the North Star Council on Aging (NSCOA).
The city currently owns the senior center, leasing the property to the NSCOA for $1 per year, and the nonprofit runs the day-to-day operations and handles the maintenance.
At a Tuesday work session, the council was mostly receptive to the idea of handing the senior center over to the NSCOA.
Speaking in support, Councilmember Jerry Cleworth said the city has previously gifted the Stone Soup Cafe and Southside Community Center to nonprofit organizations.
“This is not without precedent. And I think anything we can do to turn all these things over to nonprofits is a good step,” he said.
Last year, the Alaska Department of Labor and Workforce Development released a report outlining population projections across the state. The report estimated that the number of people over the age of 80 in the Fairbanks North Star Borough would more than double by 2035, jumping from about 2,000 people to nearly 4,700.
And Fairbanks Senior Center Executive Director Darlene Supplee told the council NSCOA would benefit from the additional autonomy that comes with ownership as the region’s population continues to age.
“Your senior center needs the ability to be nimble. We must be able to make decision and react quickly. And by doing this, it strengthens us. It does not weaken us,” she said.
After the discussion, City of Fairbanks Chief of Staff Mike Sanders told the council he’d work on a resolution to bring forward at a future city council regular meeting.