MARION- Visitors to the Marion Council on Aging at the Benjamin D. Cushing Community Center may have noticed construction going on behind the building during the week of Tuesday, Dec.1. What they saw was the beginning stages of an addition to the community center.

According to Marion Facilities Director Shaun Cormier, both the Marion Facilities Department and the Marion Department of Public works built a retaining wall in preparation for the project.

Remaining construction for the project will be completed by the Facilities Department and will continue in the spring.

“There are only two of us so it’s hard to come up with a schedule,” Cormier said. “But [construction] shouldn’t go past fall.”

According to Cormier, the town allotted $80,000 for the project at a past town meeting.

The new addition will be located off of the community center’s kitchen on the West side of the building and will be used for storage and to accommodate a walk-in freezer.

According to the Council on Aging Director Karen Gregory, the Community Center, which was once home to the Marion VFW, does not have a lot of storage space.

Gregory explained that the community center is currently using a trailer located in the building’s parking as extra storage space for “walkers, crutches, wheelchairs, commodes and bed rails.”. 

Gregory said that there are plans for the rest of the foundation to be placed in spring and hopes the project will be completed by the end of summer.