Baptist Retirement Communities to build new facility in Palmetto

BRC

BRC Presdient/CEO Laura WIllis, left, looks over a set of blueprints with Board Chariman Kenneth Ross. Ross is pastor of Homerville Baptist Church.

Baptist Retirement Communities of Georgia (BRC) is relocating one of its sites from Henry to South Fulton County in a move that will bring together children and senior adults at one location.

In a unique partnership with Baptist Children’s Homes of Georgia (BCH), the retirement ministry will construct an $11 million complex on property purchased from the Children’s Home in Palmetto. The two structures – a 103-unit manor built in the Greek Revival style costing $7 million and 20 garden apartments costing $2-million – will be the first that BRC has built for its own use.

But the ministry will not stop there. A portion of the 25-acre site has already been earmarked for a future 24-bed skilled nursing facility.

Laura Willis, president and chief executive officer of BRC, said residents of the Stockbridge campus will be able to move into the new facility in June of 2005.

New location less congested

The Henry County site, located on 70 acres off of Hudson Bridge Road, had become less desirable in recent years as urban sprawl encroached on the area. The road fronting the property is being widened from two to four lanes and the adjacent I-75 overpass is being increased from two to 11 lanes.

The congestion was just getting to be too much for residents and visitors to deal with, Willis said. But that’s the beauty of the new site.

“Our residents enjoy the serene surroundings of country living and we had lost that dimension at the Henry County site. We will not have to deal with that congestion at Palmetto due to the vast amount of land owned by the Children’s Homes which serves as a buffer to future development,” Willis added.

Partnership is ideal solution

The retirement ministry tried to remain in Henry County and considered sites in Covington, McDonough, and Social Circle so residents could remain close to their doctors and family members. But “the Lord closed each door and now we know why,” she said.

“The partnership with Baptist Children’s Homes, which was first considered in 1998, is the ideal solution. I contacted Children’s Homes President Ken Dobbs about a year ago to see if the offer still stood and we began to think through the process again.”

The wheels began to turn in earnest this past spring when 48 acres of the Stockbridge site were sold to Wal-Mart and the remaining 22 acres were placed under contract with another developer. BRC then moved ahead and broke ground at the Palmetto site in April.

Since the plan was announced last year, residency at the Henry County location – where the Baptist Inn and Garrison Personal Care Home are located – has slipped from a high of 150 to 104. Many residents have sought other housing options in order to remain close to their physicians and loved ones.

The new site will house slightly fewer residents but the units will be more spacious. Individual apartments will more than double to 378-square-feet. There will be a total of 103 apartments – 96 studios and 7 one-bed-rooms – in four wings in the main building. Two additional wings will provide 24 beds for the Garrison unit.

A second structure will feature 20 garden apartments that could house couples. The garden apartments will provide residents with more independent living than what will be offered in the main building.

The complex will incorporate state-of-the-art geothermal technology, which will reduce heating and cooling costs by nearly 30 percent.

Gary Wright, administrator of the Children’s Home Palmetto campus, sees great possibilities for ministry through linking the two entities.

“Our initial reaction to it was excitement for two reasons. First, we had land sitting there for so long that had been vacant. And second, there would be good interaction between our children and the senior adults.”

BCM averages 55-60 children ranging in ages from 5-18 years of age; six to seven children live with house parents in cottages scattered around the campus.

On the new 25-acre site, seniors will have access to facilities such as a pool and a gym with a walking track. They will also be able to be spectators at intramural activities for the children.

Another benefit of the new site is the ability for seniors to interact more regularly with each other. For example, there will be one beauty salon and one worship service.

Another improvement will be in meal service, Willis explained. Meals at Baptist Inn are currently served cafeteria style while meals are transported to residents at the Garrison Home. Meals at Palmetto will be in a sit-down environment with all residents eating together.

Interaction between the senior adults and younger children will be a plus for both. Tutoring will be one of the more popular options.

A major aspect of the children’s home has been improving the education level of their residents. Nearly 40 percent of the children attend the on-campus school, which is provided for students with academic or discipline problems.

Willis said several retired schoolteachers at the Stockbridge site have already expressed interest in tutoring students as needs arise.

Children will also benefit in terms of employment with the new arrangement, Wright says.

“Depending on their age, the children will be able to work in food service, provide yard work, and serve as helpers in the senior facility. Many of them were raised by their grandparents so they have compassion and a comfort level with older adults.”

Another benefit will be that the new buildings will be the first that have been constructed for the specific needs of the senior adults, Willis said. The ministry has been based in a variety of renovated structures such as hotels and motels that were adequate, but not perfectly suited for senior living.

BRC began in 1966 when it was given the 15-story Winecoff Hotel in downtown Atlanta. The property never recovered from its reputation as the site of the nation’s worst hotel fire that killed 119 of its 280 guests in Dec. 1946. The ministry occupied the site until 1981.

Willis said the new facilities will signal the dawn of a new era in the life of senior adult care as provided by Georgia Baptists.