North Battleford will soon have the assisted-living facility that many in the community have been clamoring for.
Tuesday afternoon, former North Battleford mayor Glenn Hornick showed off plans for Harwood Manor, a $8 to $10 million senior care home to be located on Clements Drive in the Fairview Heights neighbourhood of North Battleford.
His company, Hornick Enterprises, is developing the project in conjunction with Golden Health, which runs other seniors' facilities in the province. Ed Stromsmoe of Golden Health was on hand for the announcement, made at City Hall.
The proposed facility will provide 90 beds in 72 rooms and will offer the kind of security and service provided in other Level 1 to Level 4 care facilities for seniors.
The aim is to provide a top-notch facility with secure and relaxed surroundings.
Hornick has a strong personal connection to the initiative. The facility is named after his grandmother, and the concept came about as a result of Hornick's own experiences in transporting his mother to senior care facilities.
"Before we finally got her settled she had about four moves in the course of six months," said Hornick.
Hornick paid tribute to both the current mayor Ian Hamilton and council, as well as the previous mayor Julian Sadlowski and the previous council and administration for providing the assistance they needed in locating the land at a fair price. He said work has gone into this project for the past two to two and a half years, with ongoing discussions between Hornick and City Planner Tim LaFreniere.
Hamilton confirmed to reporters that the city assisted in finding the land and there are tax-incentives to get the project going.
There may still be some fine-tuning ahead before the project starts construction in the next four to six weeks, said Hornick.
"It's still fluid. There could still be changes in this project," said Hornick. "Nothing is written in stone."
However, the idea is for those seeking the Level 1 to 4 care to be able to move into the project and have peace of mind in knowing their needs are in place and families will not have to worry about their care.
The payroll will include 45 to 55 employees including supervised distribution of medication, food, cleaning services and available transportation.
There will be an on-site manager and the staffing will be dictated by the number of residents as well as provincial regulations, said Hornick.
He expects the staff positions to include qualified dieticians, licensed practical nurses and caregivers as well as someone responsible for recreation.
"There will be no need for the residents of the Northwest to move to Saskatoon or move to Swift Current or move to Regina to be able to find the services that are required right here in North Battleford," said Hornick.
"Our project will be as competitive with any other project in the province of Saskatchewan."
Hornick expects pricing to be in line with similar homes of this type across the province.
The project manager is Rick Lesmeister of Lesmeister Construction, Ltd., which has been involved in numerous projects in North Battleford including the court house and RCMP building.
It is anticipated local trades and construction people will be employed in construction.
Lesmeister said he expects to be in the ground by the end of June and Hornick said he wanted to see construction completed in "18 months or less." He noted Lesmeister hoped to be completed even faster, within 13 or 14 months.
Local involvement was key to getting the project off the ground, said Hornick. Innovation Credit Union is on board to finance the development. Hornick Enterprises and Golden Health are expected to hold investment stakes in the finished project.
