SARTELL -- More space for youth and senior activities was the consensus during tonight's (Monday) input session on the proposed Sartell Community Center.

Residents, concerned seniors, school leaders and youth activity directors piled into Sartell city hall to throw out their wish list on what the community center should include.

During the meeting many addressed the lack of meeting rooms and sports and senior activities space and how the proposed community center could help those demands.

Jane Sorell is with the Sartell Senior Connection and says now is the time to build a community center so seniors finally have a place they can interact.

"We've been waiting for seven years for a senior center. The last half-cent sales tax said it would be a resource facility in Sartell the would house a senior center, a library and some meeting rooms," says Sorell.

She says the senior connection would also like to work closely with the architect designing the dedicated senior center space.

"We want to be involved in the areas dedicated for seniors and the shared spaces that we would also use we would like close to our center for better access," says Sorell.

Along with a senior center and library, many voiced the need for a field house where youth athletics could practice so during the school year practices would not go late in the evening.

Community Center architect Murrary Mack was in attendance listening to the many ideas. He says the next step is to meet with the individual organization and come up with a list of priorites.

"That's where we will get into the details and then we will collect that information and that will tells us more what people are looking for," says Mack. "Then at some point we hope to bring everyone back in a setting like this and get the priorities identified for them."

However, Mack says there are other challenges facing the project besides trying to  accommodate everyone's ideas.

"There isn't a budget established yet so we don't know what the facility can support in terms of space and we don't have a site," says Mack.

While the project is still in the early stages it's clear to see the community is ready and wants a community center in Sartell.

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