Old Lyme — Four years of preparations have come down to the emptying of the 5,400-square-foot Lymes’ Senior Center on Town Woods Road to make way for a yearlong expansion project.

The arrival of moving trucks Wednesday followed news last week that the state Office of Policy and Management had approved $1 million in grant funding through the Small Town Economic Assistance Program for the project. The money will reduce the burden on local taxpayers who approved the $5.3 million project this spring.

Senior Center Director Stephanie Lyon-Gould this week said all existing programming will continue during construction.

“It’s just going to be in different locations,” she said.

Doors closed last week with programs set to resume the week of Oct. 16 at sites throughout Lyme and Old Lyme.

That means churches, libraries and municipal offices will welcome residents described by the senior center as “55 and better” for options ranging from tap dancing to blood pressure clinics.

“The community has been rallying around us,” she said.

Lyon-Gould said meals will be dished out at the First Congregational Church of Old Lyme, exercise classes will take place at Rogers Lake Clubhouse and the Dance Center of Old Lyme, and opportunities like hairdressing appointments will be offered at the Lyme Public Library.

Senior Center staff members will have a home base in the Old Lyme Town Hall, where they will offer office hours weekdays from 2 to 3 p.m., according to Lyon-Gould.

She said the moving trucks will haul away much of the furniture and equipment to storage units to be saved for the expanded facility. But some items will become obsolete in the new building, replaced by amenities like built-in shelving and movable, foldable tables to make the 9,600-square-foot expanded layout easier to use for simultaneous purposes.

Items that won’t make the transition, such as some tables, bookcases and desks, will find new homes in Old Lyme Town Hall, area nonprofit offices and the homes of some seniors. Lyon-Gould said she hopes anything left over will be delivered to the Habitat for Humanity ReStore in Waterford.

Lymes’ Senior Center Building Committee Chairwoman Jeri Baker this week said the outpouring of local support extends to the towns’ representatives at the state level.

“We’ve had nothing but bipartisan support at the town level and at the state level for this project because everybody recognizes how worthwhile it is,” she said.

She credited state Sen. Martha Marx, D-New London, state Sen. Norm Needleman, D-Essex, and state Rep. Devin Carney, R-Old Lyme, with throwing their support behind the $500,000 STEAP grants for each town.

Meanwhile, officials in the two towns this week will begin contract negotiations with Hartford-based Newfield Construction to do the work.

Construction management projects listed on the firm’s website include multiple buildings on the Naval Submarine Base New London, Otis Library in Norwich, United States Postal Service sites including Norwich, and the East Hartford Senior Center.

The building committee voted 6-2 to recommend Newfield Construction to each town after it interviewed three finalists from the seven firms that submitted proposals. The other finalists were New Britain-based Downes Construction and North Stonington-based A/Z Corp.

Lyme First Selectman David Lahm this week said negotiations will be held Friday. He said financial details won’t be disclosed until a decision is final.

The state Freedom of Information Act allows officials to withhold documents related to Requests For Proposals and bid solicitations until a contract is signed or negotiations have ended.

Voters in the two towns have authorized spending up to $3.9 million in Old Lyme and $1.3 million in Lyme.

“We hope to wrap that up very quickly because we want to get it going,” Baker said of the project.

Old Lyme-based Point One Architects in 2022 was awarded $287,300 to carry out all design and architectural work for the project. The fees all along have been split between the two towns, with Old Lyme paying 75% and Lyme paying 25%.

e.regan@theday.com