The Pembina Lodge expansion is set to begin construction this summer and be completed by the end of the year, Westlock Foundation board chair David Truckey says.
Having 68 new units available in Westlock will be good news for the 150 or so people who are currently on a waiting list.
“We’re trying to put a significant decrease in the number of people on our waiting list,” Truckey said, “but at the end of the day we still have a huge list. That’s our challenge.”
Furthermore, demographic information available for the province indicates that the number of people needing seniors’ housing will increase in the next 30 years, he added.
Truckey and foundation CEO Marilyn Lannon were on hand at the Memorial Hall in Westlock last Wednesday and Thursday to show off two full-sized models of the two new unit types.
The new facility will have 60 units at 472 square feet and another eight units at 708 square feet. The larger units, which will be located on the top floor of the facility, will be available for residents to purchase for the duration of their stay.
“It’s sort of like a life lease,” Lannon said.
The foundation will buy back the units and sell them to the new tenants as the need arises. This will be done partially to allow the residents more independence with respect to their units, and also to help offset some of the costs of the project.
Truckey said the project is expected to cost about $20 million, with only about $5 million of that funding available immediately. The rest will be borrowed through a private lender, such as a bank.
“We’ve received a grant from the provincial government, which is the mainstay of our funding right now,” he said.
The relatively quick construction time frame is due in large part to the planned modular construction of the units. The individual apartments will be built off site while the foundation and framework of the four-story building is being built on site.
“You construction time frame is lowered considerably because of that,” Truckey said.
The new units are just the first phase of a proposed two-phase expansion.
The second phase, for which there is not yet a firm time frame, will be an expansion of the kitchen and dining room, connecting the existing lodge to the Phase 1 expansion.
