Seniors' dream facility is unveiled

INNISFAIL – After a wait of two and a half years the community has finally seen and responded to the vision for a new $24.5-million modernized seniors' housing home to replace the antiquated Autumn Glen Lodge.

At a media conference held at the lodge on Sept. 21, local and area citizens, flanked by elected officials from Innisfail and area and board members from the Parkland Foundation, were shown artist renderings of the new building -- a glitzy 90-unit, three-storey, 74,000-square-foot seniors' lodge and independent living facility on the southwest corner of the current 5.74-acre property. The new home, which will have ample parking space, will finally replace the existing 57-year-old assisted living lodge, a 62-room low-income facility for Central Alberta seniors that became increasingly inadequate for both staff and residents.

Cory Gene Leniuk, principal architect for JMAA architecture, said the challenge in designing the new facility was looking for options that would not displace or disrupt residents during construction.

“We looked at an example of building a three-storey building on the northwest side of the lot but that would have meant phasing,” said Leniuk.

“We would build half of it and then we would have to take down some of the lodge we are in today and then build the other part. It is a long drawn out, costly process to do that.

“The board and the rest of the design team pushed us to, ‘can you do this all in one phase?', which is what we see in the drawings here,” he added. “Three storeys all at once, move everybody over, and demolish the existing buildings, which is much more smooth.”

And for every community member involved in the long process, which included countless meetings with provincial government officials and the design team, visualizing the long sought after facility was a dream finally realized.

“I find it very exciting. We will now be able to accommodate 90 seniors, with 60 for the lodge and the other 30 self-contained. No resident will be displaced until it's all built, and they will get to move,” said Coun. Heather Taylor, who is Innisfail council's representative to the Parkland board of directors. She and other board members had been waiting for last week's unveiling moment ever since provincial funding was announced in the spring of 2015 for the replacement seniors' facility.

Connie Huelsman, board chair for the foundation, said the plan going forward is to put tenders out in February with construction beginning in the spring. She said the new home for Innisfail and area seniors will be built with the option of expanding the facility when that is required in the future.

“I am very humbled. We have worked hard to please the seniors in this area. They have worked hard for us and we are happy to have worked with government to get this project underway,” she said, adding that while residents and staff were engaged earlier in the month for feedback, it was important on Sept. 21 to hear from the community at large. “That is exactly what today is about, hearing from the community how they feel about it. “The staff are so excited, and I am hearing from residents how happy they are,” added Huelsman, who was directly involved with the building committee over the entire past summer, and meeting every week with government officials, Just little things like, ‘we don't want carpet.' Little things like that is why we are here today, just to involve everybody.”

Jean Barclay, a seniors' advocate in Innisfail, said she was impressed with the unveiling and called the moment a “great day for seniors.

“We need something like this for sure. It is great that we are getting a modern building. I believe there has been a lot of thought that has gone into it,” said Barclay. “This was great back in the day, in the '60s when it was built, but here we are in 2017 and it is wonderful to see a new building going up. I also believe there is going to be room for some expansion down the road.”