A senior/community center which enables seniors citizens from across Roebling Village and Florence Township to gather under a single roof was officially opened this weekend, hours before it hosted the New Jersey premiere of a play about John and Washington Roebling, the engineers of the Brooklyn Bridge.

    Congressman Chris Smith (R-Robbinsville), who was able to obtain $240,000 in the 2003 federal budget toward the center, was on hand to mark its grand opening Oct. 15. The building includes a renovated auditorium and gives new life to the nearly century-old building, more recently known as the former Roebling Firehouse.

    Previously, seniors had met in a variety of locations across town such as church basements and school cafeterias. However, with nearly 20 percent of the township’s population of about 11,000 made up of seniors, a single site was needed for many years. 

    "This is a truly beautiful building and it will serve the community well," said Smith. “This project not only saved an historic building, but it allows seniors to have a place to gather and will also be a center to serve the community as a whole.”

    Former Florence Councilman John Hofflinger, a long-time proponent of a new center to serve seniors, singled Smith out for credit making the center’s opening possible. Hofflinger said he is a “lifelong Democrat and Congressman Smith's a Republican” but he said he needed to make clear that “this wouldn't have happened without Congressman Smith."

    Dignitaries in attendance included Mayor Bill Berry, Council President Dennis O’Hara and Councilman Dave Woolston, County Freeholder Director Bruce D. Garganio, Freeholder Deputy Director Joseph B. Donnelly and State Sen. for the 7th Legislative District, Diane Allen, as well as former Mayor George Sampson.

    The evening was also marked by a reception for the opening of "Roebling- the Story of the Brooklyn Bridge."

    The Brooklyn Bridge was an innovative suspension bridge that was one of the great marvels of the early industrial age. The bridge was built by John A. Roebling and Washington Roebling with steel cables manufactured by Roebling Steel in Trenton.