The Town of Blackfalds recently held a public forum to discuss the future of their Plus 55 Housing complex being developed alongside the Bethany Group and the Lacombe Foundation.
Last night was our third consultation and this one was directed by the Berry Architecture, who are the architects who have been employed by Bethany,” Blackfalds Mayor Richard Poole said. “They were asked by the Town of Blackfalds to provide a design for our senior housing project.”
Forty people attended the meeting and had a chance to provide feedback on the amenities that could potentially be provided at a project that is currently slated for 12 units in Phase I, with Phase II beginning as the first round of units fill up.
“Right now we are at the point where we are consulting with people who might be choosing to buy-in or come in to the project. We are looking at different funding models,” Poole said.
Currently the only investment made by the Town of Blackfalds is the purchase of the land and the future of the project will depend on what funding model the Town decides to go with.
“We are looking at filling the demand in the community, so we have to determine what that demand is and the folks buying into it want to move forward,” Poole said, adding the need in Blackfalds for seniors housing is growing.
“Right now in Blackfalds we have four units that are devoted to seniors housing and that is through the Lacombe Foundation. There is a demand, we have had requests and we need to look at ways to provide housing for our plus 55 community. They want to stay and we want to provide opportunity for them to stay.” he said.
The connection with Bethany Group, according to Poole is due to the fact that Bethany runs several seniors housing developments throughout Central Alberta.
Poole said residents have been very engaged with this process.
“They were enthusiastic and there was a lot of input. Berry Architecture made sure everyone had a chance to be heard,” Poole said.
The Town, Bethany and the Lacombe Foundation will now assess the project and Berry Architecture will present the results from the public forum at another public forum on Nov. 6th.