Residents propose naming Plainville senior center after former town administrator Joseph Fernandez

Unidentified Speaker 1 urged the town to name the senior center after “former town administrator Joseph Fernandez,” saying “without him, we simply wouldn't have that building.”

Supporters at the same meeting described Fernandez as the driving force behind the project. Unidentified Speaker 1 said Fernandez was “making calls, rallying support, asking businesses, neighbors to pitch in,” and “finding the funding” needed to turn the idea into a permanent facility.

Unidentified Speaker 2 called the facility “the house, the house that Joe built” and urged officials to honor him while he is still alive, saying “why do we always wait too late to say thank you?”

Other public commenters described volunteer efforts and donated materials that helped build the center. Unidentified Speaker 3 said their mother served on the permanent building committee and that “LaRusso Co op donated all the material, all the paving.” Unidentified Speaker 4 recounted that their father wired the senior center at Fernandez’s request and that family members helped on nights and weekends. Unidentified Speaker 5, a longtime volunteer who served on local commissions, said he and others painted the interior and helped prepare utilities, crediting Joe’s initiative with making the center a place seniors can enjoy.

The transcript records community support and specific examples of volunteer and donated work but does not show a formal motion, second, or vote to rename the facility, nor does it record next procedural steps. The comments framed the proposed naming as a way to publicly recognize Fernandez’s leadership in organizing fundraising, soliciting donations and mobilizing volunteer labor.

No definitive timeline or formal action for the naming was provided in the transcript.