Later this month, the Village of Sleepy Hollow will open its first community center for seniors at 55 Elm Street.

“I think it’s wonderful, really,” said Village Trustee Barbara Carr.

Carr said the one-story, 7,500-square-foot center, which has not been officially named, will open at a date to be determined in September. Sleepy Hollow Village Administrator Anthony Giaccio said the Board of Trustees is scheduled to hold its September 21 meeting in the new facility.

Construction of the building began last summer. The Board of Trustees approved the project in January 2009.

The building cost about $3 million and the village has received approximately $500,000 in federal and state grants for the project, Giaccio said.

“Seniors have made many, many requests for a center, “ Carr said.

The center will also be available to groups not necessarily consisting of seniors.

“There’s no meeting place in Sleepy Hollow,” Carr said. Seniors living in the village hold many of their gatherings at Saint Theresa of Avilla church, but they want more space, according to Giaccio.

Giaccio said it is likely that the operations of the center will be run by the village’s Recreation Department.

One of the features of the new facility is a kitchen, Carr said, adding that village employees will not cook meals. But the kitchen will be available for such purposes as catering or possibly a Meals on Wheels type of food delivery program for seniors.

Giaccio said some of the building’s facilities will include a meeting room, an activities room and an office.

Carr said the village was considering which programs to offer seniors. Some of the diverse offerings could include financial planning, tax preparation, infant CPR, and dancing, she said.

“It’s a beautiful building,” Giaccio said, noting the community is “excited about it.”