The award-winning and nationally-accredited Johnston Senior Center will soon have a new look.
“We’re going to have a portico,” Anthony Zompa, the center’s executive director, said Sunday while looking over the first phase of construction. “This will only enhance the look of our building, as well as protect a lot of people.”
Zompa, who said he and other center officials are “ecstatic” about having the portico installed, went on: “First of all, there’s nothing wrong with the building, but the portico is much needed and will cover our valuable seniors, members and staffers when they arrive. You certainly can’t change the temperature, but this will protect everyone from the elements.”
The portico, Zompa explained, will measure 35 feet long and 24 feet wide and match the center’s exterior design and color.
“We’re hoping to have this completed in about three weeks,” he said. “We’re all very, very proud of this portico project and what it will mean for the center.”
The project will cost an estimated $60,000, and Zompa said all of the funding “is the result of our many ongoing fundraising events.”
Zompa further explained that the portico will have four columns that match the building in every way. It will be free standing, but also attached to the building that’s located at 1291 Hartford Ave. (Route 6) in Johnston.
The portico will feature wood construction, laminated beams and a flat rubber roof, which will have a finished undercover and also be lighted.
“The edge of the portico will be rounded just like the roof is in front of the center, where the only part of the original building that was once known as the El Marocco Supper Club stands,” Zompa said. “It will be rounded at where the flag pole is now located … We’re going to have the flag pole straightened, too.”
Yet another thing that Zompa said about the new portico is that “the entire structure must meet every hurricane standard.”
Trees and shrubs that were once located in front of the side entrance have since been removed, and Zompa said each of the columns will be covered with cinder blocks that will match the building’s exterior color.
The portico is being installed by D.A. Rioles Construction, located at 7 Irons Ave. in Johnston.
The company is owned and operated by Johnston native David Rioles, who has over 20 years of experience in custom home building.
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