City Of Ankeny Announces Major Donor To New Senior Community Center

Press release from the City of Ankeny:

November 17, 2020

The City of Ankeny is pleased to announce Susan and Dennis Albaugh are gifting $500,000 toward the City’s new senior community center. The gift grants Susan and Dennis Albaugh naming rights to the facility. The official name for this new facility is the Albaugh Family Senior Community Center. The new facility is currently under construction on the Ankeny City campus next to the Fire Station Headquarters on NW Ash Street.

“Susan and I are so excited to be a part of the new community center for Ankeny—something we believe the Ankeny community has been in need of for a long time. Both Susan and I have watched as our parents have grown older in this community and know how important it is for them to have a place to gather and socialize and we hope that this center will become that haven for our community’s seniors. We are also very excited for the opportunity to name the kitchen in the community center after my mother, Lorna Albaugh. The kitchen, the heart of the home, is where I have the most fond memories of my mother. She was an amazing cook and cooking was one of the ways she showered us all with her love. Naming the kitchen in the community center after my mother, Lorna Albaugh, is a great tribute and celebration of all of those years she spent standing and stirring in the kitchen—shining her love on our family. Anyone who knew Lorna knows they were blessed by having her in their life and honoring her in this way is so special to us all. She truly would have loved this community center and we hope that generations ahead that will benefit from it will feel her love in the kitchen.”

The City of Ankeny is partnering with Polk County Board of Supervisors to build the new community center. With a focus on seniors, the new senior community center will offer a large community center, classrooms, indoor walking track, pickleball courts, golf/sports simulator, exercise area and raised shuffle boards. Polk County will use the facility to provide senior services consistent with its other metropolitan area facilities including daily meals, health screenings, wellness and recreational opportunities and other senior-oriented services. The City will offer programing at the center on the evenings and weekends for residents of all ages. The walking track and amenities on the second floor will be available to Ankeny residents whenever the facility is open.

“We are thankful for Susan and Dennis Albaugh and their generous gift to our community. The new senior community center has been identified as a need for several years in Ankeny and by partnering with Polk County and now having the additional support from the Albaughs, we are able to build a community center that can function on a greater scale and save taxpayers money,” said Ankeny Mayor Gary Lorenz.

Construction of the Albaugh Family Senior Community Center is expected to be completed in late 2021.

This press release was produced by the City of Ankeny. The views expressed here are the author’s own.