Older adults gathered at Wellesley’s Tolles Parsons Center, greeting familiar faces as they filtered into the building to view the newly operational kitchen. As they were welcomed inside the center’s multipurpose room, not a single seat was left unfilled and the room buzzed with conversation.
The long-awaited commercial kitchen at the Tolles Parsons Center officially opened on Friday, March 6. For years, construction hurdles and licensing issues left the space underutilized. Now, with approval from the Wellesley Health Department, the Council on Aging (COA) is ready to bring the space to life.
Kathy Savage, COA Acting Director of Senior Services, said the kitchen would help transform what is often a solitary chore of cooking into a vibrant community experience for older people to “age healthy” together.
“Some of them are on their own and they live on their own, and it’s really hard,” she said.
About 75 people attended the ribbon-cutting ceremony that celebrated completion of the Richard Campana Kitchen. It was named after the late Wellesley resident Richard A. Campana, who made a $400,000 bequest to support programs and services at the Tolles Parsons Center.
Members of the Council on Aging board and relatives of Campana gathered to celebrate the opening and honor his contribution. The highlight of the afternoon came when Linda Campana, his cousin, lifted a pair of oversized ceremonial scissors and cut the green ribbon to open the kitchen.
“The scissors were very heavy,” she said with a laugh.
The room erupted with applause and the attendees eagerly made their way into the kitchen.
Heidi Campana, Richard’s niece, gave a speech commemorating his contributions to the town and his devotion to his family. “My uncle served as a role model for me,” Heidi said. “My memories of Richard are very fond, and he would be so pleased to know that we have a room full of people who are here today in his memory.”
Savage said the space will be used to host cooking classes and educational sessions on healthy eating for older people. There are also plans to collaborate with community farms to provide expertise on fresh produce and progressing simple recipes into complex dishes, she said.
The kitchen was open to the public and guests continued to move through the kitchen throughout the event, taking pictures of the prep area.
This project has been years in the making. A feasibility study conducted about 10 years ago determined that a commercial kitchen was possible, but the space lacked a required dry storage area after earlier construction changes. The recent renovation addressed that issue, allowing the kitchen to meet licensing standards. The Wellesley Health Department approved the kitchen earlier this year.
The COA catered events at the Tolles Parsons Center under special permission from the Health Department, which allowed a once-a-month exception despite the kitchen not meeting construction requirements. However, officials made clear this could not be a permanent arrangement, said COA Board Chair Judy Gertler.
The recent remodeling began last year and concluded in January. Town Meeting approved funding for the renovation, while the Campana funds are being allocated to programming at the Tolles Parsons Center.
“It is already a tradition to hold the annual St. Patrick’s Day luncheon with funds from the Campana Fund,” Gertler said. “We anticipate there will be many more activities that will utilize the kitchen and will be made possible due to Richard Campana’s generosity.”
The initial Tolles Parson Center design plans included a kitchen, but due to construction issues and the lack of funding, the kitchen area had been closed off, according to COA Vice Chair Marlene Allen.
“I worked hard to get it,” said Allen. “I feel that’s what the town expected. That’s what they planned for, that’s what they paid for, and for the long future of this building, that’s what it should have.”
Wellesley Media video on ribbon cutting
This story was produced through a partnership between The Swellesley Report and Boston University’s Department of Journalism.
