Things change. And as much as Chestnut Hill is a neighborhood that is committed to preserving the best parts of its past, it’s not immune to social and economic changes that can, at times, drastically affect its institutions.

The announced closing of the Chestnut Hill Center for Enrichment is just the most recent example.

Opened in 1978 by a group of local residents looking to provide retired people in Chestnut Hill with a range of activities from bridge games to Italian-language classes, the Senior Center (as it was called then) was a brilliant demonstration of a community with means filling a real need.

But times change. What was unique about the Senior Center in 1978 has become ubiquitous in 2017, as the center’s board president Marilyn Paucker and its executive director Mary Zell pointed out in discussing the closing with the Local last week. Today, active adult communities a short drive from Chestnut Hill offer bridge, lectures, day trips and golf outings.

The center also faced the kind of social change that continues to challenge the very nature of the term “senior.” A study last year by the Pew Foundation found that the rates of adults over the age of 65 who remain in the work force has climbed consistently since 2000. Nearly one third of Americans between the ages of 65 and 69 work (up from about 12 percent in 2000) and a fifth of people between the ages of 70 and 74 continue to work.

As Zell put it last week, “People just don’t retire anymore.” There’s no time for a card game at the senior center.

It’s a shame to see an institution like the Center for Enrichment close. But in doing so, Pauker and the rest of the CHCE board are doing the right thing. They understand that times have changed and forcing the institution to remain open when the need for it has largely passed would be a waste of time and money.

Beyond that, the story of the CHCE is a sobering reminder of change that doesn’t affect only a center catering to older adults. The Chestnut Hill Community Association, the Chestnut Hill Business District and the Chestnut Hill Conservancy are all working on grasping change and working hard to remain relevant. The needs of Chestnut Hill residents and business owners may have changed, but they still exist.

The Local, too, continues to struggle with a question of change as well. With reader preferences migrating rapidly from print to mobile devices, we’re trying to figure out how to change our old advertising business models and stay in business. Many other newspapers are doing the same thing.

The changes can be tough to swallow. Sometimes painful. But they can’t be avoided. The sooner we all come to that realization, the better.

Pete Mazzaccaro