BUTLER TWP — Almost a year and a half after the Sunnyview Nursing and Rehabilitation Center was sold by Butler County, it is undergoing several renovations.

“It is going well,” said administrator Tricia Kradel.

Sunnyview was sold in May 2014 to Investment 360 of Lakewood, N.J., for $20.4 million. The company owns several retirement homes around the United States.

Work started in May. As of now, Kradel said $300,000 has been spent. She said a budget for all of the work has not been set.

So far, Kradel said work has been done on two units on the skilled side of the building, which houses longer-term residents. She said both units have 60 residents.

She said Sunnyview has started with work on the corridors, hallways and nurses' stations. She said the third floor is almost done, and they are moving to the second floor.

“We're hoping that those two units will be completed within the next six weeks,” Kradel said.

The work includes new flooring, new ceiling tiles, painting, adding guards on the walls, new nursing stations and redoing the community rooms.

“Just a whole renovation of the entire floors,” Kradel said.

After that, she said workers will get started on the residents' rooms.

Sunnyview also has done minor updates to the lobby area, such as painting the entrance area.

The next big step is working on the first floor.

“We want to make that first floor like a town hall,” Kradel said. “They can go there and get services there.”

The administration offices located in the basement are being considered to move, but Kradel said they do not know where they will go yet. Because of the town-hall format for the first floor, Kradel said having the administration offices there would take away space that is meant for the residents.

Meanwhile, the intermediate side of the building will be turned into a large rehabilitative suite.

Kradel said Sunnyview is looking to add an area for seminars to be conducted. She said this would be in the old laundry area of the lower level.

“That is a large area that we are going to transform into a beautiful space where we can hold seminars; bring in community functions that if people need a space to hold a meeting, they can come here to do that,” Kradel said.

Along with this, Sunnyview is looking to add things such as theater rooms on the lower level for residents to watch movies. That work will being in summer 2016.

She said there is no time frame for completion of the projects.

“We have so many areas we are doing,” Kradel said.

Heidi Coyle, director of nursing, said that Investment 360 is going for “state of the art” at Sunnyview.

“When it's done, it's going to be done very nicely,” Coyle said. “Their (the company's) homes are beautiful.”

She said Investment 360 believes the most important thing is the resident areas are done well.

“That's where they renovate first,” Coyle said.

Kradel said Sunnyview officials want to make it feel like it is more of a home environment.

“We want to make it so it's the residents' home,” Kradel said.

Kradel came to Sunnyview about three months after it was sold to Investment 360. She said the home has good relationship with its owners.

Coyle, who worked at Sunnyview when the county owned it, said the new owners have a lot more funding to make changes.

Before, she said the home was more institutional, which she said is not the fault of the county, considering its budgetary restrictions. But with the new owners, the home is looking a little nicer.

Coyle said the home is almost done with making its medical records electronic.

“Everything will be right at the doctor's fingertips,” Coyle said.

Kradel said one of her favorite aspects of the new owners is their commitment to having the home's administration be involved in community organizations and groups.

“They want us to be involved,” Kradel said.

The home still takes medical assistance for residents.

“We are about 70 percent medical assistance,” Kradel said.

Coyle said that is about the same amount as when the county owned the home.

The home has 220 beds and has 225 to 250 employees.