SEEKONK - Advocates for a new senior center vow to keep fighting after Monday's overwhelming defeat of a tax increase to pay for a new building.

The $5.1 million center had been the target of critics, including Selectman Robert Richardson, who said the price tag was too expensive.

Bernadette Huck, the director of Seekonk Human Services, which houses the council on aging, acknowledged that voters were sympathetic about the needs of the town's senior citizens, but that the poor economy prevented them from wanting to incur higher tax rates to pay for a new facility.

Don Kinniburgh, the head of the senior center building committee, said tax rates would be increased by only $44 per household if the debt exclusion was passed.

Huck said even that amount of money was too much to ask for residents coping with unemployment and uncertain finances. "The time is very difficult right now," Huck said. "People are having tough times, and not knowing what the future has to hold."

Huck said she is willing to consult with the board of selectmen regarding different proposals for a new senior center.

Monday's vote is not the end of the battle for a better building, Huck said, adding there were other alternatives to be explored, such as moving into an existing building.

Huck also suggested applying for federal grants as a way to fund a new center.

"I'm going to hold Mr. Richardson to his word that this is not going to end here, that we will have something. I'm very optimistic," she said. "The good Lord has something better in store for us," she said.