New Medical & Seniors Developments Coming to Pelham

Last Tuesday night, Council heard publicly from two groups working to build a medical centre and a retirement and long-term-care development in Fonthill.

First, the Town signed an agreement to sell nearly two acres of land in East Fonthill to a team led by Christina Dobsi, of Dobsi Medical, and David Kompson, a long-time developer in the Niagara Region, and supported by Greg Chew of Collier’s International.

The group anticipates 20,000 to 35,000 square feet of space to accommodate medical and health and wellness professionals, along with some retail. This will include eight-to-10 physicians with various specialties. Inquiries for services such as dental, aesthetics, and therapy are being accepted by the group.

We understand that this project will become a professional health and medical hub that will draw family physicians, medical specialists, and other health-related services to the community.

The location will be immediately East of the new Meridian Community Centre, at the South-West corner of Meridian Way and Rice Road. Plans call a “legacy building” to be completed by the summer of 2019!

Second, Council heard publicly about a multi-phase project consisting of seniors apartments, a retirement residence, and a long-term care facility coming to Pelham.

Led by Samer El-Fashny, owner and operator of various retirement and long-term care facilities in Ontario, the project’s first phase – seniors apartments and retirement residence – will be completed by 2019. It is anticipated that phase two’s long-term care facility will begin development in 2021.

The seniors apartments will be three-to-four stories and along the Eastern-side of the proposed public square at Wellspring Way and Meridian Way. They plan for apartments with fully equipped kitchens, an emergency response call system, and optional housekeeping.

The 140-suite retirement residence – further along the North-side of Meridian Way and toward Rice Road – will be four-to-five stories and include independent, assisted, and memory care living units. Twenty-four-hour nursing, personal support worker services, and a variety of building amenities such as private dining rooms and a chapel, for example, will also be available.

The proposed 192-bed long-term care facility will provide a mix of private and semi-private units and include additional services or space for day care and day programming. To be located along Rice Road and near the storm-water pond, the facility would employ upwards of 150 staff, including nurses, personal support workers, chefs, therapists, and administrative professionals.

In total, it is expected this retirement / long-term-care development would add approximately $60 million in economic development to the Town and could employ 200-250 healthcare and administrative professionals. The Town will sell just over six acres of land in East Fonthill for this project.

Dustin Gibson, Project Manager, informed Council that this development will allow for the seniors of Pelham to “age in place” by ensuring that as seniors care levels may change, different levels of supports will be readily available.

This medical centre and the retirement home / long-term-care development will help enhance the quality of life for residents. (For a copy of the retirement home / long-term-care development presentation click here.)

Pelham’s demographics indicate, and residents tell us, that we need these types of facilities in Town. Council is proud to partner with these groups because they will be building such important services for the community.

Both projects help complete another part of the vision for East Fonthill, which also includes the Meridian Community Centre, Wellspring Niagara Cancer Support Centre, Parkhill’s affordable seniors housing, and new commercial developments.

You may contact Mayor Dave at mayordave@pelham.ca or read past columns at www.pelhammayordave.blogspot.ca.

Community Centre Update: “On schedule and within budget”

A couple of weeks ago, Bill Gibson, Chair of Pelham’s Meridian Community Centre Oversight Committee, presented another upbeat update to Council.

You will recall that Council listened to suggestions from the public for proper project supervision by establishing Community Centre Oversight Committee two years ago. The committee includes two community members (Gibson and Bill Sheldon), one Council rep (Councillor Accursi), and the Chief Administrative Officer (Darren Ottaway). This committee works to ensure that the Town receives value-for-money in every aspect of the project and that the project gets delivered on time and on budget, and to provide the community with consistent and timely updates.

You will also recall that Ball Construction serves as the project’s construction manager and works with the committee, the architect, Town staff, and the various contractors to manage the project’s timing and construction.

Mr. Gibson provided updates on the project’s milestones, and finances. He showed pictures of the significant progress on the Meridian Community Centre. He outlined that the rink boards, glass, and netting were already installed in the Duliban Insurance Arena. He showed the painting and finishing work in the activity centres (named the Lucchetta Homes Courts). He spoke about the great work of local contractors – like Star Tile, which has tiled each of the washrooms and change rooms. He showed photos of the glass along the Walker Industries Upper Viewing Galleria and around the Mountainview Homes Upper Arena Lobby. He outlined improvement in the Dr. Gary & Mal Accursi multi-purpose room. His pictures showed progress along the Lookout Ridge Walking / Running Track and final preparations for the 1,000 seats in the Accipiter Arena.

He also outlined some imminent construction milestones like installing the basketball nets and divider curtains in the activity centre and installing the centre scoreboard in the Accipiter Arena. He said that most of the porcelain tile floors on the second floor would be completed by the end of April and, depending on the moisture levels, Ball Construction would also oversee the start of the wood floor installation in the activity centre. Later in May, workers would commence installation of the rubber “skaters” flooring and the poured rubber walking / running track floor.

Mr. Gibson said that the Oversight Committee was forecasting that this project will be within budget and will reach substantial completion on time – on June 1, 2018.

“Substantial completion” means that Ball Construction will “turn over the keys” to Town staff. Over the summer, staff will re-test systems, move in furniture and equipment and work with volunteer user groups so they can move furniture and equipment into their rooms and storage spaces. We are also planning for tours and open houses over the summer – but they have yet to be scheduled.

Obviously, all of this is great news for our community! Council and I look forward to opening the new Meridian Community Centre so that it can become the place for residents of all ages to gather and enjoy a wide-variety of recreational, social, health and community activities for many, many years.

To review the presentation by the Oversight Committee, please click here. You may contact Mayor Dave at mayordave@pelham.ca.