The Lymes’ Senior Center Building Committee will hold two public forums next week to update residents in Lyme and Old Lyme on the proposed $5.3 million expansion project.

The sessions will be held at 7 p.m. on Monday, May 8 in the Lyme-Old Lyme Middle School auditorium and at 4 p.m. on Tuesday, May 9 at the senior center at 26 Town Woods Road in Old Lyme.

Old Lyme is responsible for 75% of the cost and Lyme the remainder.

Lyme First Selectman David Lahm last month said the town has included its share of the center expansion in the town’s 2023-2024 proposed budget, which will go to town meeting on May 25. The Old Lyme Board of Selectmen last week discussed a possible referendum vote in June or July.

The center was built in 1996 and has not undergone renovations since.

Currently at 5,400 square feet, designs for the center shows an expanded 9,600-square-foot layout that will build westward toward the High Hopes Therapeutic Riding facility. It includes the reconfiguration of the entire inner space plus added space and movable partitions so multiple programs can happen at the same time. It includes an expanded, 814-square-foot kitchen.

The building serves as the home base for the town nurse and the local Veterans of Foreign Wars chapter.

Old Lyme-based Point One Architects in 2022 was awarded a $287,300 contract to carry out all design and architectural responsibilities through the completion of construction.

e.regan@theday.com

Editor’s note: This version corrects the square footage of the current and proposed layout.