Milwaukee seniors want McGovern Park Senior Center reopened after flooding, mold ‘indefinitely closed’ building

MILWAUKEE (CBS 58) – A Milwaukee senior center is 'indefinitely closed' due to recent flooding and mold, but ongoing conversations about the building's future are resurfacing as seniors demand for the center to reopen. 

A crowd of over 50 seniors who are members at the McGovern Park Senior Center held signs and chanted outside the building on Milwaukee's northwest side Tuesday, Sept 30.

“This is a place we call family. A place we call home,” said Roxie Touchstone, who organized the gathering and is a member of the McGovern Park Senior Center. "We want our center, we want our home, we want it to be specifically for seniors, so we have a great place to go and have fun.”

According to Milwaukee County's Department on Aging, the McGovern Senior Center in Milwaukee County currently remains "closed indefinitely" due to recent flooding and significant mold contamination. County leaders said the facility will remain closed until indoor air quality is restored to safe levels, but there is no estimated timeline for when work will be completed. 

The seniors who frequently visit the center want the building to be fixed and reopened.

“We want Milwaukee County to get in there and clean out the spores and mold and open the doors so we can go home. We’re even willing to help with the clean-up,” Touchstone said.

In June, a proposal to redevelop the McGovern Park Senior Center and add affordable housing was rejected by the Milwaukee County Board of Supervisors. At the time, some seniors were worried adding housing could make drastic changes to the place they go to relax and socialize. Now that the center is closed, some seniors believe this is a result of that vote.

“We don’t want this to be political payback for us saying that we didn’t want affordable housing," said Minnie Harmon, a member of the McGovern Park Senior Center. "We still don’t want affordable housing, but we want our center."

County leaders previously said it would cost $1.75 million over the course of the next five years to renovate the facility.

“We knew that there was a real possibility that McGovern Senior Center was going to close, that was made abundantly clear to all of us," said Milwaukee County Supervisor Felesia Martin in a phone call with CBS 58 on Tuesday. 

Martin said she and other county leaders are doing what they can to try to make sure the center doesn't permanently close. However, if it had to close, Martin said she would work to open a new center for these seniors at another site in her district. 

“We will continue to fight and advocate. I just want them not to be hopeless," Martin said.

Although the McGovern Senior Center remains closed, senior programming and aging services continue to be offered at the following alternate locations:

• Clinton Rose Senior Center – 3045 N. Dr. Martin Luther King Dr., Milwaukee, WI
  • Phone: 414-263-2255
• Washington Park Senior Center – 4420 W. Vliet St., Milwaukee, WI 53208
  • Phone: 414-933-2332
• Kelly Senior Center – 6100 S. Lake Dr., Cudahy, WI 53110
  • Phone: 414-481-9611
• Wilson Senior Center – 2601 W. Howard Ave., Milwaukee, WI 53221
  • Phone: 414-282-5566

Some of the seniors say they don't want to visit the other centers that are further away from their home. 

“We don’t want to be displaced, we’re all displaced, we’re going everywhere, we’re going across town to be at another senior center because we don’t have anything on the northwest side for us," Touchstone said.

Milwaukee County leaders say they will continue to provide updates on the status of the center.