Maryland residents eager for re-opening of redesigned Bain 50+ Center

The Bain 50+ Center was the busiest of Howard County Maryland’s 50+ centers for older adults. Hopes are high that it will be welcoming its older participants soon.

Barbara Scher was recently walking around the backside of Bain 50+ Center in Howard County, Maryland, when she saw one of their “regular” members sitting in her car. The woman cracked her window open and asked Scher, “When will you be open again?”

It’s been more than a year since the Bain 50+ Center closed its doors to residents as COVID-19 spread through the country. Closing those doors was like shutting out the sunshine for people who spend their days exercising, playing cards, or learning a language inside the center.

“For many people in the community, that center is their sanctuary,” says Scher, the 50+ Centers Division Manager for the Howard County Office on Aging and Independence. “They love the staff. They miss the activities. They miss each other. To not have the ability to do that – it’s not something I take lightly.”

In a network of six centers in Howard County, Bain is the largest. In its 40th year of operation, it attracted more than 250 people each day. It had the largest lunch service, providing half of the annual meals served by the county.

The Bain 50+ Center serves a diverse population, with 45 percent of its members identifying as Asian, 22 percent as African American, 29 percent Caucasian, 4 percent as two or more races, and less than 2 percent Hispanic. It reaches a variety of people from education levels and socioeconomic backgrounds. Bain, in fact, is a microcosm of the entire community, Scher says.

Renovations and expansion

The original structure was built in 1981, but it was in 2018 that Murphy & Dittenhafer Architects was called on to update the facilities with a major renovation. The center had outgrown the space and needed more efficient use of the space to continue offering its diverse programs, including cultural events, genealogy classes, art programs, and lectures. The computer lab represented the largest hub for AARP tax return assistance in the county, doing upwards of 1,800 returns a year.

Renovations included providing more flexible multi-use space, open office work areas, new entrance canopies and signage, and a new glass “storefront” wall with colored solar blades to reflect sunlight in summer and allow it in during winter. Most significant is the addition of a fitness equipment room.

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The dance and aerobic areas were a top priority for expansion and included designs by Murphy & Dittenhafer Architects where walls were moved to create larger spaces. That fitness component is the most popular offering at the center, where county residents 50 and older pay just $75 a year for unlimited access to the gym.

When COVID-19 changed the way programs could be run, virtual fitness classes became available for $50 a month, with 26 different classes ranging from Tai Chi to Zumba, meditation and core training. Those classes will return in person when centers reopen, and the larger space will allow for participants to spread out, Scher says, a need they never would have foreseen when the design phase began.

Inspiring the lives of others

There are other items of the redesign that Scher believes patrons of the Bain 50+ Center will love.

“The bathrooms are gorgeous,” she says. It’s the easily overlooked comforts – such as a toilet that sits high enough so it doesn’t hurt bad knees or an adult changing room for those who need assistance – that really honor, respect and ensure the dignity of the center’s visitors.

Scher marvels most at the work of Murphy & Dittenhafer Architects in that they have created an environment that exudes vibrance and vitality. It’s not institutional looking. It has a concierge feel and experience.  

“What we do in terms of how we make life better for our older community members speaks volumes about who we are as a society,” Scher says. “It’s inspiring. That’s what our work is about. Not just inspired in our own work but to inspire the lives of others. That’s what good design does.”

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