Wednesday, January 25, 2017
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Groundbreaking event for Louis Waring Jr. Senior Center
A groundbreaking ceremony was held on Monday for the Louis Waring Jr. West Ashley Senior Center on the Bon Secours St. Francis Hospital campus.
The new Senior Center is a joint project between Roper St. Francis Healthcare and Charleston, and it has been in the works for more than 10 years. A joint committee of city and county council members selected Roper St. Francis Healthcare’s bid to run the new Senior Center’s programs.
Charleston City Council voted on March 24, 2015 to use six acres of land on the Bon Secours St. Francis Hospital campus to build the new Senior Center. The city will own the building, and Roper St. Francis Healthcare will manage its programs.
Former Charleston City Councilman Louis Waring Jr. is the namesake for the new center. During his time on council, Waring was instrumental in helping Bon Secours St. Francis Hospital move from the peninsula to West Ashley.
Waring said Monday at the groundbreaking that he is honored by the decision to name the center after him.
“I have a whole lot of humility with it,” he said. “They could have named it after God knows how many other people, but they chose me. I’m very pleased.”
There are about 25,000 seniors living in West Ashley, which lacks a Senior Center. The Louis Waring Jr. West Ashley Senior Center is expected to open in 2018 and more than 1,000 residents are on a waiting list to participate in its activities.
Roper St. Francis has managed the Lowcountry Senior Center on James Island since it opened in 2002. The Lowcountry Senior Center serves independent senior adults ages 50 and older and has more than 1,400 members.