CENTERVILLE RETIREMENT VILLAGE PLANS BIG UPGRADE
Retirement community in Centerville to upgrade facilities.
A retirement community CENTERVILLE — in Centerville is planning a $42 million construction project to upgrade its facilities, according to City Planner Andrew Rodney.
Bethany Lutheran Village, a continuing care retirement community that offers assisted and residential living, skilled nursing, dementia care and rehabilitation, is looking to rebuild a wing of its existing complex at 6443 Bethany Village Dr., as well as make improvements to other parts of the complex.
Jackie D’Aurora, vice president of Marketing and Public Relations for Graceworks Lutheran
Services, said the 18-month project will be to “live up to” their brand, and compete with other facilities that offer similar services.
“We consider ourselves a high-end retirement community and our assisted living didn’t feel like that, D’Aurora said. “We wanted to create something for our own residents and the community.”
The new wing, which will have 74 new units, will replace the Arbor assisted living wing, which has 22 units. The rooms will double to about 600 square feet in size, D’Aurora said.
“People were beginning to see assisted living wasn’t quite keeping up with current trend,” she said.
Bethany Lutheran Village is among other large-scale construction projects either recently completed or underway in the Miami Valley.
In 2015, Kettering’s Renaissance at the Carlyle House added a $3 million memory loss wing to its facility.
A $21 million assisted living facility in Springboro called the Sanctuary of Springboro was green-lit for construction in 2016.
Randall Residence, another assisted living community in Centerville, is scheduled to begin construction of its $32 million facility later this year.
D’Aurora said she attributes the surge in assisted living to preferences of seniors and their families, as well as the idea some have about nursing homes.
“A lot of people have a stigma about nursing homes,” D’Aurora said. “Assisted living feels more acceptable to people. It’s not as heavy on care.”
Once the new wing opens, 36 smaller assisted living units in the Pavilion building will also be converted to 35 assisted living memory care units.
A new activity room, renovated kitchen, dining area and other improvements are to be part of the expansion, according to D’Aurora.
Construction could begin as early as June with the project scheduled for completion by December 2018, D’Aurora said.
While construction is slated to begin this summer, Centerville and Graceworks Lutheran Services, which owns Bethany Village, still need to reach agreement on some issues.
Centerville’s planning commission is scheduled to meet Tuesday, April 25 to discuss a zoning appeal by Graceworks. Centerville denied Graceworks’ zoning application due to changes in the building’s exterior.
“The construction documents they submitted for building permits did not match—in my estimation— what was approved by the planning commission,” Rodney said.
Rodney said the appeals process wouldn’t determine whether or not the project would move forward, but how the exterior of the building will look.
Tuesday’s planning commission meeting is scheduled for 7 p.m. at 100 W. Spring Valley Road.
Bethany Lutheran Village offers various services for residents including assisted living, short-term rehabilitation, long-term care and memory supportive care on their 100-acre campus. The campus houses nearly 700 residents and has been in service for over 70 years.