Seniors urge Black Mountain council to prioritize Lakeview Senior Center repairs after Hurricane Helene

Speakers at the Feb. 10 Black Mountain Town Council meeting urged the council to make renovation or relocation of the Lakeview Senior Center a top priority after the facility closed following Hurricane Helene.

Multiple longtime users described the center as a daily lifeline for older residents, saying its loss has interrupted meals, exercise classes and health services. Lynn Swan, a senior resident, told the council, "The Senior Center needs to be a top priority." Swan said the Lakeview Senior Center has been her "Monday through Friday, 9 a.m. to 3 p.m., activity center for the last 10 years" and that she and other users have been without senior-wellness activities for five months because of Helene.

The pleas came during the public-comment period and included detailed examples of services lost and why residents consider rapid restoration important. Nancy McKay, who said she checked the town's 2023 census data, said, "40% of our population in Black Mountain is 60 years of age and older," and warned that prolonged closure risks worsening loneliness and health problems among older residents. Joyce Miles and Carol Schneider described the center's regular offerings, including exercise classes, health presentations and monthly vaccine clinics by a pharmacy partner; Jim Schneider emphasized that socialization helps seniors recover from losses such as bereavement.

Speakers asked the council either to restore the existing Lakeview building or to relocate the senior center so that programs and services could resume sooner than a two-year timeline some residents had heard. Swan asked that the council seek a solution that allows seniors to resume activities "in less than 6 months." Commenters noted that meals and limited pick-up services have restarted but said that in-person congregate programs, on-site vaccinations and regular educational speakers remain unavailable.

The transcript records one authority cited by a speaker: "North Carolina Department of Health and Rural Service Services mandates a senior center be provided." That phrasing appears in public comment; the town did not cite a specific statute during the meeting.

Council members and staff later said recovery funding and prioritization discussions are underway as part of ongoing post-storm budget and project planning, and the manager invited residents to contact staff with additional input.

For now, residents who spoke asked the council to accelerate repairs or identify temporary space so seniors can regain access to daily meals, exercise classes, health talks and social programs that multiple speakers said support physical and mental well-being.