New Areas of Building Taking Shape
Significant progress has been made on the Tipton construction/renovation project over the past 6 weeks. A complete facelift of the east side of the facility is nearly complete, with a reopening of the front entrance right around the corner. The new parking lot has a first layer of pavement and will soon be striped. A finish layer of pavement will be poured at the very end of the project. The interior of this newly constructed front entrance consists of a large breezeway entrance, a new reception and sitting area, new public restrooms, new business office and media room, new offices for the Admissions Director, Administrator and Social Service Director, as well as a new quiet room for our residents and families. Also opening will be the first of 2 new beautiful first-floor dining areas. An apothecary can also be found in this dining area, but will not be fully functional until later in the project. The new kitchen is completed and is fully operational with all new appliances and equipment.
The new laundry room construction is well underway and will be connected to the building when the therapy area is completed. The large laundry area that will serve as an excellent environment for providing top-level laundry services to our residents. We are upgrading from a 2 washer, 2 dryer operation to one that consists of 3 washers and 5 dryers. This equipment upgrade, along with a much larger work area, will create an efficient and organized department.
Other areas of on-going progress include the new therapy and rehabilitation wing, renovation of resident rooms, and new landscaping of the courtyard and the new parking lot “islands”. Coming soon will be construction of a new courtyard gazebo, installation of new exterior directional signs and construction of a 28’ x 18’ storage building at the edge of the north parking lot.
At the same time, a major “de-construction” of a large area of the facility is underway. The existing dining room, kitchen, therapy gym, laundry and beauty shop are all being demolished. This is necessary to make way for construction of a second dining room on the first floor, new offices and in-service areas, new activities area and beauty shop, new rehabilitation apartment and spa room, and 4 private resident rooms. Our services will not be interrupted during this phase, however, as therapy will move to the existing business/admissions office (across from current reception area), which will be freshly vacated due to the opening of their offices in the new front. After removal of some furniture and equipment from the existing reception area, the beauty shop and activities department will be calling this area their temporary home.
