After being closed for a month and a half, the doors of the Benton County Senior Activity & Wellness Center reopened March 16.

Inside the facility at 3501 SE L St. in Bentonville, familiar routines resumed — conversations picking up where they left off, the main hall buzzing with bingo activity and vans preparing for grocery trips.

For many older adults in Bentonville, Bella Vista and Rogers, the reopening marked a return to a resource they depend on each day: a place for movement and connection.

“I was so glad to hear the center reopened because it does so much for so many people,” said Marilyn Petersen, a senior who moved to Bentonville three years ago. “I’ll never forget the first time I went — people were playing games, going on field trips and just happy to be there. So much of it is about seniors having a place to socialize and stay connected.”  

The center closed Feb. 2 when tight federal and state funding, combined with the loss of one of its two operational subcontractors, prompted a weeks-long shutdown.

In 2025, the Bentonville center logged more than 16,000 contacts with over 500 local seniors. Now, those seniors once again have access to exercise equipment, transportation to Walmart and social activities ranging from crafts and games to local field trips. However, the on-site kitchen has yet to reopen.

The Area Agency on Aging of Northwest Arkansas (AAA of NWA), now serving as the center’s sole operating subcontractor, is working to restore that critical service as quickly as possible.

“So many seniors depend on those hot lunches, but we’re still working to staff the kitchen at the Bentonville center,” said Brad Bailey, executive director of AAA of NWA. “We lost our other subcontractor without much notice, so we had no choice but to close our doors and quickly figure out how to make this a more sustainable operation moving forward.”

“Unfortunately, that closure resulted in the loss of a lot of staff,” he said. “We have most of those positions filled again, and many of our activities and services are back up and running. But we still need good people to run our kitchen, along with a few other positions.”

The Bentonville center served nearly 12,000 on-site hot lunches to more than 400 seniors in 2025, according to Bailey, making the reopening of that service a top priority.

Open positions at the center include food services manager, kitchen assistant and custodian — find more details here.

Even during the temporary closure, the center was able to maintain its meal delivery program for homebound seniors by shifting from fresh to frozen meals. Bailey said those deliveries will soon transition back to fresh meals.

In addition to all of the on-site lunches, the center delivered more than 32,000 meals to over 200 seniors in 2025.

“The relationships we have with these seniors are special,” said Audra Ford, director of the Bentonville center. “So many of them truly depend on us to be here and open, and we’re working hard to make things even better.”

Bentonville resident Ruth Walk has utilized the center for the past year, but she worries limited resources will keep the center from returning to full capacity.

“It does make me wonder if the variety of field trips and the meals will ever fully return — or whether they’ll be consistent,” Walk said. “When funds are tight, it’s hard to do everything. I wonder if there’s even enough money to meet needs and expectations.”

Bailey said the center continues to work to restore as much of the services, like the on-site meal program, although there is no timeline for when that might occur. He said that funding is tight and the Benton County Senior Activity & Wellness Center relies heavily on community support.

“The state provided an additional $2 million during the last fiscal session, but when you divide that across 75 counties in Arkansas, you can see how quickly those funds are stretched,” Bailey said. “Public donations go a long way in helping us meet the needs of seniors in our communities.”