A new retirement home converted from a historic convent will allow its low-income residents to stay in place as their needs grow.
The Elizabeth Retirement Community, which had a budget of around $4.5 million, has 28 independent-living apartments, 11 assisted-living units and one respite suite. Everything except the assisted-living units are filled. The retirement community is applying to have its assisted-living units licensed so its occupants could qualify for subsidies.
“It was a grassroots project,” Rob Muench, Humboldt’s mayor, said after the Nov. 16 ribbon cutting. “People saw this building. People knew it had to be converted to something that they community can use. It was a wonderful asset put in place by the sisters a number of years ago and it’s now come to fruition.”
The federal and provincial governments contributed more than $1 million into the project, while the City of Humboldt contributed $50,000 plus a 30 per cent municipal tax reduction for five years.
The project was undertaken by Stewart Properties. Tyler Stewart, the company’s president, said he was given a tour of a building that was empty for a while and could have been demolished for houses. When doing his due diligence into the project, he saw the need for lower-income seniors to have an affordable place to live.
“It was the right thing to do for Humboldt, it was needed in Humboldt and that why we chose to take it on,” he said.
The project saw many challenges. First, they had to find a financial institution that would be willing to finance the project. After that, the lowest bid for a general contractor was too much, so they decided to take it on themselves, using local labour.
“There was something within the core group of people involved of not giving up, that this will come to fruition if we just don’t give up, that kept pushing it, that made it what it is,” Stewart said.
Keeping the historic aspect of the building was also a challenge, as market research showed that seniors want to live in modern homes.
“Then it was how can we make it as modern as possible yet still keep the heritage and classical components of the property and meld it into one?” Stewart said.
“I think they did a remarkable job,” Muench said. “Just the look of it from outside, they’ve transformed it into a modern facility but kept enough of the old style that it's still a tribute to the sisters that built the original facility.”
