PELHAM — Don Brunelle sidled past visitors in the Senior Center dining room yesterday, then squeezed by raffle tables to point out where the 1,500-square-foot addition would go.

The Pelham Council on Aging will ask voters for about $139,000 in a warrant article in the spring to build an addition to the Senior Center. The article will read $279,000, but the council has $100,000 in a capital reserve account and $40,000 in funds it has raised to offset that figure, he said.

Brunelle, the chairman of the Council on Aging, said voters have defeated the addition in the past, but he and others are hopeful that they will see fit to approve it this time, making room for a large conference room and bathrooms out back.

Just as important, the new space will free up space elsewhere in the building.

In the kitchen yesterday at Harvest Fest, cook Arlene Spaulding dished out blueberry cobbler. She serves 30 to 40 seniors a hot meal Tuesday through Friday at noon.

The addition would provide more room in the kitchen, and allow the center to serve more people. On holidays, there are two seatings because of the space crunch.

Barbara Ward, 62, gets her hot meal of the day at the center. She said it's crowded now, and will be more crowded as the population ages.

Outside in the chilly air at a porch table, Ed, 72, and Carol Stanley, 71, ate lunch with their daughter.

They went outside to eat because there wasn't room inside. They take Tai Chi classes through the center, but because of the space shortage, the classes have to be offered off-site at St. Patrick's Clubhouse.

With the addition, "We'd be able to have more activities and we'd probably come more often," Ed Stanley said.

The center, established in the converted farmhouse and barn at 8 Nashua Road in 1975, has 700 members.

Another crowded space at the center is the 12-foot by 12-foot office where the director, secretary and treasurer all share the room.

Director Sue Hovling said the addition would allow the center to offer more programs, such as exercise classes.

Secretary Carla Bordeleau said the addition would be an investment in the town's aging population.

"For a lot of elderly people in town, this is really all they have for their social program, and they need more room," she said.

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