On the list of upcoming and current projects for the Emery County Municipal Building Authority is the condition of Emery Care and Rehab Center in Ferron. The building is about 40 years old and the building is in need of an upgrade. During the last meeting of the MBA, the county commissioners and other MBA members considered just how much of an upgrade.
Al Shakespaere, administrator of the center, told the MBA members of the urgent needs of the center, along with some projected numbers of residents expected in the next few years. The center is in need of a new kitchen and laundry facilities now, to better care for the residents. For the future, his request is to construct an assisted living center.
Considering what Shakespaere called the “graying of America”, in just a few years, the baby boomers will be in need of care in a facility. “It is projected that by 2010, the baby boomers will begin to impact the existing center. They will need an assisted living facility and we need to start building now to better prepare for this,” said Shakespaere.
He said this would be the only type-2 facility in the county and would consist of 16 rooms, including singles and couples rooms.
Gil Rand, the architect for the proposed project, presented several preliminary drawings. The drawings illustrated how the completed project would look. By adding on the assisted living rooms on the front of the building, which also includes a new kitchen, laundry and administrative offices, the existing center would be able to remodel the present kitchen and laundry facilities to include a solarium, meeting room and living room.
One proposal for the addition of the assisted living portion of the project, a workout room, a library, and an atrium would be included for the residents. The front part of the existing care center would be enclosed with windows.
Rand said, “Our general contractor has looked at these preliminary drawings and he estimates the entire project could cost as much as $3 million. The cost of just the remodel of the current kitchen and laundry will be just over $1 million.”
The board of the MBA discussed and approved to pursue financing for the entire project in the form of Permanent Community Impact Board funds. CIB funds are those funds which are paid by the mineral extractors in Emery County. The royalties are paid to Utah State and are then dispersed through the CIB to those counties where mineral extraction impacts the area.
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