Radio personality Ron Jones is known around town for his smooth voice as the emcee at the summer Concerts by the Sea and Sunday farmer’s market. Jones is now employing his persuasive tones and long standing in the community to garner support for the Riford Center on La Jolla Boulevard, which Jones aims to reinvent as a social venue for adults and shake off its image as a senior center. Jones was appointed executive director of the Riford Center in October. “The recreation center takes care of the kids. The YMCA takes care of the families. The JCC [Jewish Community Center] takes care of the families and the kids,” Jones said. “When you get to the needs of the empty nesters, it doesn’t exist. Now it does here.” Jones wants to host weddings at the Riford in the near future. Thanks to a $150,000 donation, the Riford Center just completed a commercial kitchen to cater events and to host regular cooking classes. Dick and Kaye Woltman made the donation in memory of their mother, Dorothy Reasner. “The kitchen is the engine that drives this place,” Jones said. “I plan to give Great News [Discount Cookware and Cooking School in Pacific Beach] a run for its money.” The ceiling on the center’s airy, main room was also renovated with the Woltman donation, as was the flooring. Patrons gather there for the “Jazzercise” workout classes held in the mornings and evenings. Jones wants to bring more nighttime activities and high-profile speakers to the center. With Jones as deejay, social dancing classes will debut on Jan. 24. Alex Spinos will speak about UFOs in February. The center currently hosts classes in sculpting, drawing, Spanish, laughter yoga and senior yoga. A reading theater is in the works. Seniors continue to gather for bridge games as they have for the past 50 years. Jones is moving forward with his vision piecemeal as funds become available. The kitchen still needs pots and pans and the main room needs sound equipment. The building wraps around an open patio, accessible via sliding glass doors. Jones wants to make the patio more accessible by removing the obstructive bushes, resurfacing the uneven bricks and replacing the 60-year-old furniture. Jones is working to get the La Jolla Garden Club involved. Michael Morton of Marengo Morton Architects has designed a new façade for the building to make the center more visible and appealing to the public. In his rendering, passersby will be able to see into the building through glass doors to the courtyard. A new arched marquee will announce the name of the center, and the exterior walls will be lit up at night with energy-efficient lights. A side door will be ADA-compliant. Now, Jones just has to find the money to construct the new look. If someone makes a large enough donation, Jones is even willing to rename the center. Money is trickling in. In 2008, the center raised $150,000 at its Rocking at the Riford event, and another is planned this May. The Kiwanis Club recently gave a $2,0000 check to the center. The San Diego Foundation contributed $4,000. Jones is banking on support from the community to keep the center alive. The Riford Endowment has been whittled down to about $50,000 since Florence Riford established the trust in 1970. Riford originally established the center as a clubhouse for persons over 50 years of age, and the center has been managed by four nonprofits since then. LiveWell was the last lessee to manage the center before the Friends of the Riford Center formed in 2007 to save the $2 million property from the wrecking ball. Jones estimates it costs $9,000 per month to operate the center, which relies on membership fees and donations, and does not receive any government money. “I need people to get interested in the community beyond their own front mailbox,” Jones said. Jones moved to La Jolla in 1976. He built his career starting as a disc jockey and now runs Allegro Entertainment. Jones has also made a name for himself in the civic circle. He just finished a one-year stint as executive director for the La Jolla Town Council. He’s served as president of the Greater La Jolla Meals on Wheels for 10 years, and has been active in the Rotary Club for 14 years. “I’ve been called the voice of La Jolla by [Councilman] Scott Peters,” said Jones, who lives three blocks from the Riford Center. “Well, the voice of La Jolla is now at the Riford Center.” The Riford Center is located at 6811 La Jolla Blvd. For information, call (858) 459-0831.