This Park City social club is booming – and the price tag is just $5

PARK CITY, Utah — Imagine a private club with art lessons from local artists, self-defense classes, mahjong and bridge, and outings with your besties to the Summit County Fair. Then there are wine tastings, picnics at the park, and holiday parties. All this, for a $5 annual membership. Sounds too good to be true? It’s not.

The Park City Senior Center is hopping. Before 2020, membership was around just about 70 people. Now, it’s 600 and counting. The center is literally, bursting at the seams. There may be a few factors at play. First, people were starved for social contact after the pandemic and quarantine. Second, the growing number of baby boomers reaching the age of 60. “The senior population is more than 20% in Summit County,” explains Elizabeth (Liz) Novack, president of the Park City Senior Center. “But 70% of those people live in Park City and the Snyderville Basin.

Third, there’s Novack. A relative newcomer, Novack has been president since January, and in her very short time, The Park City Senior Citizens, Inc. possess an impressive list of accomplishments. The center hosted the Elks Club Flag Day ceremony, participated in LivePC/GivePC, provides a monthly newsletter and active Facebook page, sponsored and organized a vaccination clinic, hosted a Kimball Art Center exhibit featuring members’ art, and plans to start a zero-food waste composting program.

Novack grew up in Orange County, California and bought a home in Park City in 2009. One spring day in 2022, she read a ‘letter to the editor’ that Beth Armstrong, former Executive Director of the People’s Health Clinic, had written about providing services to the elderly population. “It was so inspiring, I wrote to her,” says Liz. “She invited me to come to a meeting for the Gray Ribbon Committee (an offshoot of the Senior Center). Next thing I knew, I was involved.” One year later Novack was a board member who offered a lot of fresh energy and big ideas.

The center is open Monday through Thursday, 9 a.m.–4 p.m. and offers a variety of daily classes as well as special events like concerts, live dance performances, off-site gallery and museum tours. Most activities are free. In addition, it offers $3 lunches Mondays and Thursdays. On Tuesdays and Wednesdays, it features bag lunches (bring your own) with presentations on a wide range of current topics.

With the exception of a Summit County part-time Administrative Assistant and Park City grant-funded Activities Director, it’s all run by volunteers. “The Activities Director coordinates and organizes all the activities we provide and the Administrative Assistant keeps the center humming,” Novack said, “but we really need long-term, full-time personnel.”

A committee (Woodside II) of board members are partnering with Park City Municipal to build a new senior center. “Our goal is to be open 5 days a week,” Novack said. “It’s a party, it’s so much fun. It’s such great socialization. It’s educational, entertaining, artistic, nutritional. We’re trying to cover all the bases and I think we do an outstanding job at it.”

Their dream is a new 10,000-square feet senior center with an additional 6,000-square foot shared space dedicated to affordable housing for seniors who want to stay in the community they love. The board also supports a Continuing Care Retirement Community (CCRC) which would provide assisted living, skilled nursing, memory care, and more––offering a full continuum of care.

That’s a big step up from the current 3,000-square foot center located in the old Keetley Depot Station (the entire abandoned train depot was literally moved to the Woodside Avenue location in 1976). So, fitting everyone in is tight. “We’re dreaming big,” Novack said. “Currently, the city has set aside $3.5 million toward a new senior center. These funds could be used to relocate the current senior center in temporary housing while the new center is being built. There’s a lot of moving pieces.” For now, a group of dedicated board members are meeting with folks from the city, developers and the mayor to determine what is feasible and appropriate. The board has done their homework and researched best practices at other centers across the nation. “We’re in the beginning stages,” Novack said, “writing proposals and meeting with folks.”

In the meantime, things are hopping at the center. “I love the people we serve. They are so gracious, kind, and appreciative,” Novack said. “I’m 71 years old, so this is my peer group. It’s so rewarding and fulfilling to lift up your peers. They’re more than peers, they’re my family.”

For those interested in volunteering, making a donation, or joining the Park City Senior Center, contact the center or visit the website.