Assisted-living center would be a Belvidere first
By Kevin Haas
RRSTAR.COM
Posted Jan 14, 2009 @ 12:21 AM
BELVIDERE —
A developer’s plan for what would be Boone County’s first assisted-living facility may hinge on the city’s receipt of a hefty state grant.
Belvidere will ask the state Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity for $600,000 to construct new water and sewer lines for the proposed center.
Water and sewer lines would be stretched from Belvidere North High School to the proposed site for the senior living facility — 7 acres owned by the county near the intersection of Squaw Prairie Road and U.S. Route 76.
The land would be leased to the owners and operators of the facility, a partnership of private groups led by The Kensington Group, which operates the next-door nursing home, Maple Crest Care Center, said County Administrator Ken Terrinoni said.
The 120 units of Glen at Belvidere would be the county’s first supportive-living center, providing affordable housing to the elderly.
“This is definitely an underserved area,” said Steve Horve, owner of Horve Builders of Forsyth, the developer and a partner in the project. “There are nursing homes, but there is not a single, affordable assisted-living center in Boone County.”
The Belvidere City Council meets Monday to consider approval of the state grant application.
The Glen at Belvidere is anticipated to create about 45 jobs. It will be managed by Blair Minton and Associates, which manages more than 25 assisted-living facilities in Illinois, Horve said.
The project is estimated to cost $21.7 million. The facility will accommodate elderly residents receiving public aid as well as private-pay residents.
“There are very few assisted livings that accept Medicaid patients,” said John Slattengren, executive director of the Boone County Council on Aging. “We think that it would make a great asset because there are people in this community who are in between. They don’t need a nursing home, but can’t live in house or apartment and afford the private care.”
Developers hope construction starts this spring and concludes in Summer 2010.
Staff writer Kevin Haas can be reached at 815-544-3452 or khaas@rrstar.com.
