Dana Barron leads the H4W (Harmony 4 Women) Chorus in movement during a rehearsal at the Bend Senior Center in 2012. (Joe Kline/The Bulletin file photo)

Will it still welcome seniors when “Senior Center” is no longer part of its name? The Bend Park & Recreation District plans to quadruple the size of the Bend Senior Center and change its name, possibly to something like the Larkspur Center.

The name change is part of an effort to de-emphasize the facility’s historical focus on programming for seniors, as Bulletin reporter Scott Hammers wrote earlier this week.

But the district says it won’t forget seniors and will retain most of the programs it now provides for them, while adding 40,000 square feet and a focus on younger residents.

When the Bend Senior Center opened in 2001, the park district and the United Senior Citizens of Bend provided not just recreational programs, but also other services for needy seniors. That has changed over time, including the breakup between the district and the seniors group that included a legal dispute about the group’s donations to help build the structure.

The facility still provides extensive programming for seniors, but the district has made it plain for several years that it wants to expand the focus to include other age groups. Initially the talk was about younger seniors — baby boomers — but the new expansion plan goes much further.

It includes a small warm-water pool and possible lazy river feature that could accommodate family recreational swimming and water exercise classes to ease crowding at the Juniper Swim & Fitness Center. A multipurpose gym, exercise equipment and an indoor track are being considered.

Even if the district maintains every one of the current programs for seniors — not a given — the atmosphere will change. The structure and ambiance that serve 80-year-olds isn’t the same as what serves 10-year-olds and teens or their parents. There’s a serious risk that seniors won’t feel at ease or see it as a place that serves them.

It’s a risk the park district needs to take seriously, not just in its programming, but in the amenities, the tone and the decor it chooses.

Younger residents have many other options that are designed with their interests in mind; seniors do not.