The official word is now that Aug. 14 will be the move-in day for prospective residents of the Pembina Lodge expansion, and the will by all measures have an impressive facility to move in to.
Westlock Foundation board chair David Truckey and CEO Marilyn Lannon opened the doors to show off the facility to MLA Maureen Kubinec, former MLA Ken Kowalski and his wife Kristina.
For Truckey and Kubinec, who both sat on the Westlock Foundation board as municipal councillors in Westlock and Westlock County respectively, seeing the expansion so close to opening its doors is a very satisfying feeling.
“It’s very exciting,” Kubinec said. “I’m very proud of the people who made this happen, from the staff and the people who had the vision to the people who constructed it.”
Truckey pointed out that not only will this facility be a good fit for the community of Westlock, it comes not a moment too soon.
“I think from my perspective, it gives us the first shot in 10 years at reducing our wait list a significant amount,” he said. “We have turnover every month, but this is our first time have 60 new suites coming on line where we can do justice to the wait list. The wait list is too long.”
The waiting list to get into a Westlock Foundation facility has for many years been at 100 people and sometimes many more.
Truckey said he also appreciates the fact that this new 68-unit facility solidifies Westlock’s status as a retirement community.
“We’re right behind Camrose — we’re the Camrose of the north,” he said.
For Kowalski, whose support for the project when he was MLA helped make it become a reality, the expansion represents a “new standard” for seniors’ housing the province.
Sitting in the large atrium area, he noted that distinctly “French” feel of the room — balconies from the first to fourth floor overlook open space.
“You can imagine everybody standing on their balconies having a conversation across the street,” he said. “This is a social room.”
He said he was also impressed with the warm colours and inviting feel the facility has, noting the fact it’s barrier-free – there are wheelchair-accessible suits and wide hallways to accommodate them – is another big perk.
“This is not your average, out-of-sombody’s-file building,” he said. “It has some imagination.”
On top of the new suites, the building will also house some administrative offices for the Westlock Foundation as well as a conference room that could be rented out.
Lannon said once the facility becomes fully operational, it will mean the Westlock Foundation’s workforce will expand from about 80 to 100.
Truckey said he hopes the facility will fill up within four months or so, which he said is a realistic estimate considering that’s about how long it took to have the Smithfield Lodge fill up.
Phase 2 of the Pembina Lodge expansion project, which will include tearing down the existing 14-unit Linaria wing and building a new kitchen and dining room, is expected to begin within a few years, although that portion is still in the planning and budgeting stage. In the meantime, residents of the Phase 1 expansion will take their meals in the atrium.
