Newton celebrated the long-awaited opening of the Cooper Center for Active Living on Friday, a milestone marking the end of an eight-year-long effort to plan and build the city’s state-of-the-art senior center.
“Today, we are celebrating what all of us can do when we come together and invest in a dedicated, supportive, and permanent home for our older Newtonians,” Newton Mayor Ruthanne Fuller said. “This is a place to gather, to connect, and to thrive.”
Fuller was joined by Lieutenant Governor of Massachusetts Kim Driscoll, state representatives, local lawmakers, Newton City Council representatives, and residents in celebrating Newton’s effort to become a more age-friendly and accessible city.
“Centers and facilities like this are more than a building,” Driscoll said. “It’s a testament to what happens when a community cares deeply, comes together, and then boldly plans for a future.”
According to Fuller, the opening of the Cooper Center marks much more than the opening of the building’s doors—it solidifies a deepened commitment to support older adults throughout the city.
“We intentionally expanded the number of people working in our older adult services department so that we could serve all of our older residents better,” Fuller said. “That really matters.”
Driscoll highlighted Newton as a representation of what the state is looking to do in terms of delivery and accessibility of age-friendly services.
“Newton remains a model of what it takes from a statewide perspective to listen to residents and design services that meet people where they are with what they need,” Driscoll said. “This Cooper Center really embodies those values that we want to see everywhere: belonging, accessibility, intergenerational connection, and joy. You all created this collectively.”
Jacqui Conley, Newton’s recreation manager, emphasized the growth in older adult services that the center represents as an interdepartmental and intergenerational space for the City.
“It’s great to have an intergenerational space, where you have young and old people coming together and doing programming … to know that you can come here and there is an offering for everybody,” Conley said.
Fuller dedicated the building as the Cooper Center for Active Living in honor of the late Audrey Cooper, whose decades of service directly represent the values of the center. Cooper, a lifelong Newton resident, served the community as the secretary of Underwood Elementary School, an advocate at Family ACCESS of Newton, and a champion for older residents through her role in establishing Newton’s first senior center. Before passing, she initiated the Cooper Center.
“I think we’re short on heroes and heroines, and too often, a little short on compassion and collaboration and positivity and civic service,” Fuller said. “So that’s why we named this building for Audrey Cooper. Audrey cared about every member of our community.”
The opening also served as a swan song for Fuller as she nears the end of her eight-year term, marking the completion of a project she made a top priority. Fuller’s dedication to the project and growth of services for older adults was emphasized at the event, and she received a standing ovation for her efforts.
“This building stands as an important and critical part of her legacy to Newton,” said Josh Morse, Newton Public Buildings commissioner. “When Mayor Fuller turns off the lights of her office at City Hall for the last time, she can do so knowing that she transformed how older adults receive critical services, enjoy programs, stay socially engaged, and remain connected in an inclusive, age-friendly, and supportive center.”
Morse emphasized the immense community effort and engagement that went into completing the project. After eight years, over 530 public meetings, and extensive collaborations among residents, city staff, architects, engineers, and community leaders, Morse described how the center is completely shaped by the people of Newton.
“The beauty of the robust community engagement process we committed to is that a piece of all of us will always live within these walls,” Morse said. “We came together, rolled up our sleeves, we pushed and pulled, tweaked and refined every single detail to ensure that this building stands as a shining example of community, collaboration, civic discourse, and government working for the people.”
Deborah Anker, a Newton resident, emphasized the importance of this building for the community and described her hopes for how she will engage with the center.
“I hope it’ll help me get together with people and get to know more people,” Anker said. “And you know there are things I’d like to do too, like you know, reading groups, and maybe there’s some organizing we can do.”
For many in attendance, and for the local leaders involved in its creation, the Cooper Center’s opening represents a huge step in creating a thriving age-friendly community in Newton.
“I have to tell you, I think the new center, as someone who’s built a new center and knows how hard it is, is new and state-of-the-art, and will set a new standard for what it means to be an age-friendly community and have a facility like this,” Driscoll said.
