We just held two neighborhood meetings to discuss innovative ideas in senior housing that came out of the UWM School of Architecture and Urban Planning’s Senior Housing Ideas Competition earlier this year. You can see the competition designs and download the report here.
6th and Walnut
The first meeting on August 30 looked at ideas for the site of the former Plymouth Manor nursing home in Bronzeville. While most of the sites selected for the competition were “wouldn’t it be nice if” sites, this one is well along the way to actual development. Prince Hall Masonic Foundation, along with ELL Development, LLC, is building the Prince Hall Campus there. Plans aren’t set, but the entire continuum from independent living to skilled nursing is in the works.
Competition architectural firm Plunkett Raysich is developing the plans, which probably won’t look much like the ones you see at the UWM website.
Lots of movers and shakers attended the meeting at the United Way. The development group is working on funding, including the possibility of bonds; completing studies; issuing an RFP for service and management; and developing an advisory board to help in the process. If you’d like to be involved, contact Georgia Cameron, gcameron@pobox.com.
At the end of the presentation, Stephanie Stein, director of the Milwaukee County Department on Aging, challenged everyone to find ways around barriers to create a better model, one that doesn’t have separate areas and ideas for different levels of care.
People don’t want to move from place to place to place, and they shouldn’t have to. Seniors in independent living will hide problems because they want to stay where they are, not be moved, she pointed out.
Bringing services to the people and community whenever possible rather than sending people to the services is the bottom line for all the sites, not just this one.
Sherman Park
The evening meeting for the Sherman Park neighborhood was a different ballgame. That site, the location of the no-longer-used Jackie Robinson Middle School, is for sale. But nobody’s been talking about new ways to develop it, and no buyers seem to be looking at the site.
A smaller group, mainly neighborhood residents, attended. They looked and listened with open minds, and maybe the “hmmmm” of new possibilities opening. The idea of a large scale senior living center hadn’t been raised before.
However, the attending neighbors said that as they thought about it, there was indeed a need for congregate senior living places in their neighborhood of single-family homes. They also wanted to pay attention to this site as a focus for strengthening the neighborhood. And the plans, they said, showed places they might like to live themselves.
Another bottom line: build the place you'd want to grow old in yourself!
Stay tuned to hear about future meetings. And please share your thoughts with us.
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1 comment:
I agree with what Stephanie Stein said. I know another elder who is in need of help but his fear or being relocated has caused him to reject offers of assistance.
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