Glen Haven Village construction to begin in spring

Barring any unforeseen circumstances, contractor bids for the Glen Haven Village project will be accepted and reviewed in February and construction will commence in early spring.

Project manager Phil Warren said if construction work goes as planned, Glen Haven residents could begin moving into their new skilled nursing facility as early as next fall.

Glen Haven Village will be built among seven renovated cottages on the campus of the Glenwood Resource Center and will be a state-of-the-art skilled nursing care and rehabilitative care center designed in a homelike setting with the capacity to house 75-80 residents. The new facility will replace the 54-year-old Glen Haven Home at 302 Sixth St.  Each Glen Haven Village cottage will house 10-12 residents, with one of the units designated exclusively for memory support and Alzheimer’s care and another cottage set up to accommodate residents in need of short-term rehabilitation. The cottages will have single-occupancy rooms with private bathrooms.

Glen Haven has reached a 50-year lease agreement with the state of Iowa to house the facility on the GRC campus. In a symbolic gesture earlier this month, GRC Superintendent Dr. Jerry Rea presented a key to the cottages to Warren, Glen Haven Administrator Julianne Marriott and board member Larry Raabe.

Glen Haven Home is a non-profit, community-based care facility. The Glen Haven Board of Directors has secured a $4.6 million USDA Rural Development loan to cover an estimated $3.1 million in construction costs for Glen Haven Village and the refinancing of remaining debt for the construction of the  Linnwood Estates assisted living complex. The loan is for 35 years at 2.75 percent interest.

The loan comes with oversight and involvement by the USDA.

“They’re there every step of the way,” Warren said. “USDA and the  fire marshal have approved the plans. Rural Development doesn’t do a lot with non-profits and there are a lot of forms to fill out, but they’re great to work with.”

Warren noted the recent federal government shutdown slowed the USDA’s handling of paperwork associated with the project.

“That shutdown has probably cost us a week to 10 days and they were only shut down one day,” Warren said. “They’re just getting backlogged.”

Warren said four contractors have been invited to bid on the project.

“Once we select the contractor, then we’ll negotiate because there are things I think we can still reduce cost on,” he said.

Construction work, which will involve “gutting” the interior of the seven cottages, is expected to take around six months. The move into the new facility could take up to three or four weeks after construction is completed. Warren said Glen Haven will be required to submit a relocation plan to the Iowa Department of Inspection and Appeals. Glen Haven is not licensed to operate more than one skilled-care facility, but will be given a reasonable amount of time to make the move.

“They realize we’ve got 60 people to move and we’re not going to do that over night, “ Warren said.

Along with the USDA loan, more than $1  million has been raised for the Glen Haven Village project through a capital campaign.

Businessman Rod Rhoden, a former Glenwood resident, was the major contributor, committing $500,000 in matching dollars to the project.