Resurgence at Central Square

Jake Spitzack
Staff Writer

Programs at Central Square are thriving two years after the City of South St. Paul and South St. Paul Public Schools (SSPPS) ended their nearly 20-year joint management agreement for the community center, 100 7th Ave. N., and the school district is spearheading more ways to grow. The management agreement ended because the center had experienced a decline in membership for eight years and was placing a financial strain on both entities, especially at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic. It was decided that the school district would assume full ownership of the center and operate it under its Community Education department.

“The commitment we made [when assuming full ownership] was continuing and growing the senior center, and getting the gymnastics and aquatics programs back up and running,” said Community Education Director Jeanne Zehnder. “If you asked us two years ago if we thought we’d accomplish all of that we probably would have laughed and said, ‘we want to,’ but it really has come to life.”

Last year, the gymnastics program had more than 1,000 participating youth, ages 18 months-14 years, and this summer the Center launched a year-round pre-teen gymnastics program. Staff hope to begin a competitive team in the next few years that would act as a feeder program for the secondary school’s gymnastics team. The Center also now offers an 8-week dance program for students in grades 5-6 as well as a fall dance line program for young adults. Most recently, the department hired an aquatics director. Pool programming, including swimming lessons and family swim times, are expected to begin in January.

Memberships at the senior center have increased in the past few years and now sit at 237. All the classic programming such as penny bingo, craft time and SSP Buzz (social time) remained when the school took full ownership of the center, and now members can also sign up to go out to lunch once a month and go on trips together with a community education employee. Last summer, 80 seniors boarded a bus and visited Lake Geneva, Wis., where they stayed for two nights. In mid-October, a group went Fort Atkinson, Wis., for two days and one night.

“We’re happy to call Central Square home and be in the heart of the community and offer what they’re [residents] asking,” said Zehnder. “Anybody can walk in and give us an idea and we’ll work hard to get that in place…. I’m really proud of the care and compassion and relationships that our small but mighty 5-person team has.”

Central Square continues to be a distribution point for free Take ’n’ Bake meals, a program operated in partnership with Kitchen Coalition as an initiative of Second Harvest Heartland. It began during the pandemic to help restaurants stay open and retain their employees. Each week, 900 meals are prepared by restaurants and commercial kitchens and delivered to Central Square where anybody can pick one up for free. Meals are single serve or family size, and there are typically 1-4 options. They can be picked up on weekdays after 3 p.m., although Zehnder said they are typically gone by Wednesday evening. The Center also still operates Fare for All, a program that offers groceries at a discounted rate. The next date is 4-6 p.m., Tuesday, Nov. 21.

A wide variety of free adult basic education courses are held at Central Square through Community Education, including language, citizenship and academic classes. The computer lab was recently updated to accommodate people taking their General Education Development (GED) test there.

“I think our community has come to realize the benefits of community education and what we can offer,” said Zehnder. “Community education is all about lifelong learning and since we’ve moved to Central Square it’s a place where our community can come together to learn, grow and socialize. We’re thrilled to be here and feel like we’re where we belong.”

The Center’s operations are funded through state levies and federal funds received by Community Education and Adult Basic Education. For more information, call 651-306-3632 or visit communityed.sspps.org.

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