Griswold Center

Location

Background

Before 1985, Worthington did not have an official building dedicated to serving the needs of the senior citizen community. The activity rooms at Stafford Village and Melbourne Village, retirement communities in Worthington, served as gathering places for senior citizens in the 1970s, and Worthington Parks and Recreation contracted with individuals to teach crafts and present cultural programming. The first Community Center in Worthington opened in 1977, and in 1980 seniors began to meet there. In 1984, Parks and Recreation launched a senior activities program at the Selby Park shelter house.

Worthington gained its first building devoted to the senior population when the former Revco Drug Store at 940 High Street was renovated and opened its doors on June 11, 1985 as the Worthington Senior Center. The facility featured a large meeting and activity room, and a kitchen that doubled as an arts and crafts space. By 1987, the center boasted 900 members, and was outgrowing its space.

Following a years-long search for an appropriate site for a larger facility, the Griswold Center at 777 High Street opened on February 14, 1994.