Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Marshall Center topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Residents urge county to preserve senior services as Marshall Center is repurposed
Summary
Multiple Marshall Center users told the Spotsylvania County Board of Supervisors that splitting senior programming across smaller sites will harm seniors’ mobility, social connections and safety; parks and recreation staff said programs will continue at Chancellor and Lee Hill community centers beginning in January, though pickleball and some large-group activities may be limited.
Dozens of Spotsylvania County residents told the Board of Supervisors on Tuesday that plans to repurpose the Marshall Center and move senior activities to multiple smaller community centers risk isolating older adults and degrading services.
"The Marshall Center is a central location where we seniors live," said Stephanie Hoster, who told the board she has attended Marshall Center activities two to three times a week for a decade. "We are not a forgotten throwaway society."
Sandy Reinhart, of the Berkeley voting district, said communication about the changes has been poor: "Nothing's been posted on the website or communicated to us via email," she said, and many seniors still do not know where activities will be held. Pamela Lee described learning about the plan only by rumor and questioned why a multi-year process that staff said began in 2019 did not produce clearer outreach.
Public speakers cited health consequences. "Research shows that social isolation and loneliness account for a 45% increase in earlier deaths and a 65% increase in dementia risk," said Michelle Gooden, emphasizing the role a permanent senior hub plays in mental and physical health.
County staff and Parks and Recreation officials told supervisors they are trying to preserve services while the Marshall Center is repurposed. Ben Loveday, assistant county administrator for community operations, said staff have "been working diligently over the past several months to provide the same levels of service with the exception of pickleball." He added that the county examined attendees' ZIP codes to choose new community center locations closer to most users.
Recreation Manager Brian Barnes outlined the schedule staff proposed for January: senior programming would move to the Chancellor Community Center on Mondays and Wednesdays and to the Lee Hill Community Center on Tuesdays; some partner programs such as the Area Agency on Aging senior café will operate at Lee Hill Monday, Thursday and Friday. He acknowledged that some large activities and rentals may not fit into alternate venues and that pickleball will require longer-term facilities work; staff said open-air pickleball courts at Patriot Park are in the county CIP and design work has started.
Supervisors asked staff to monitor attendance and return with six months of data to see whether programming suffers. Parks and Recreation said it will publish the January 2026 calendars and continue outreach to program leaders and partner agencies.
The board did not vote on any formal policy change about the Marshall Center during the meeting; supervisors who spoke acknowledged the community concerns and said they want to track outcomes and revisit uses if needed.
