New $57M building dedicated at Passavant
ZELIENOPLE — Management, residents and religious leaders were all on hand to dedicate the Passavant Retirement Community's new Abundant Life Center in a ceremony Wednesday afternoon.
The new $57 million building was erected over the past two and a half years, though its conception dates back six years.
Multiple speakers made note that the completion of the process involved nearly everyone in the community including the seniors who live there and the staff who work there, many of whom gave input on the design and features of the new facility.
Passavant executive director Laura Roy thanked everyone who contributed along the way.
“Today is a celebration. It is a celebration of a community of people who were inspired by a vision to create a new community, one that is life giving and life affirming, a vision to create home, and today is the culmination of that vision,” Roy said.
David Fenoglietto, Lutheran SeniorLife president and CEO, said the new building makes Passavant unique among its competition.
“It is easy to pick us out among a crowded field of senior living providers. We are a new community positioned for the future. We are an organization willing to change, to dream and to grow,” Fenoglietto said.
In keeping with the theme of involving the community, five Passavant residents were invited to join Roy in cutting a ceremonial ribbon to dedicate the new building.
Many Passavant residents took a tour of the new facilities.A date of when residents can move in has yet to be set, but Roy has said it could be in about eight months.The 223,000-square-foot building has independent apartments, assisted care apartments and nursing beds and the community's communal “Main Street” which includes an indoor swimming pool, restaurants, TV studio and other amenities.Once residents have moved into the Abundant Life Center, the Olde Main building on the campus will be demolished to make way for more parking, green space and new condos, which will face Culvert Street.
