NEWPORT BEACH : Final Phase for Senior Center OKd

The City Council has approved the final phase of an $885,000 renovation at the Oasis Senior Center that will add a 4,625-square-foot building to the facility’s multipurpose center. The last phase will include construction of the new building next to the 7,500-square-foot multipurpose center at 800 Marguerite Ave., a carport for four vans, more parking space and restroom facilities.

The first two phases include construction of a retaining wall and relocation of garden plots. Completion is expected by January, 1992.

Celeste Jardine-Haug, the city’s supervisor of adult services, said the renovations will create space for the center’s 3,500 members to socialize and allow for better use of the center, which is funded and managed by the city and a nonprofit organization, Friends of Oasis.

Layout of the center, a former private elementary school, has been ideal for a variety of classes and group activities for more than 12 years, Jardine-Haug said. But because it lacks a central lobby area and a space for private conversations, Jardine-Haug said senior citizens aren’t comfortable unless some activity is going on.