Waco officials plan to relocate Sewell Ross senior programs after safety review; community seeks more time

Mayor Jim Holmes and city staff said the city will relocate programming from the Sewell Ross Senior Center after a facilities review identified structural and safety concerns at the decades-old building.

City staff emphasized the move is intended to keep senior programming active and safe while the city evaluates the future of the Sewell Ross building.

Jonathan Cook, a city staff member who presented the update at the April 15 work session, said the city’s analysis looked at program needs, facility condition and alternatives. "Today, we are going to review some of that senior programming and facilities and really dive in to the relocation that was recommended of programs from the Sewell Center," Cook said. He told council that the building is a roughly 15,000-square-foot former church, built in 1951, and that parts of the structure and the wooden dance floor are showing deterioration.

The proposal moves programs now based at Sewell Ross into several nearby facilities to avoid service interruption. The city identified the Dewey Community Center (under a mile away) as the primary relocation site…