Richfield Living CEO Cherie Grisso, fourth from left, Board Chair Kirtesh Patel and other board members, along with Roanoke County Supervisors Chair Jason Peters, and Roanoke County Catawba District Supervisor Martha Hooker, cut the ribbon officially opening Richfield’s Town Center to the public.
Meg Hibbert Contributing writer
Richfield Living opened its new Town Center and welcomed the public to the jewel of the Salem Campus with a ribbon cutting, grand opening and tours on May 18.
The 25,000 square foot Town Center is a mountain lodge design with mammoth fireplace, community rooms, meeting rooms, activity areas, and chapel. It includes large cafeteria that is also open to the public as well as residents; an atrium and patio overlook the campus’ front lake.
There is also a new Wellness Studio and BellaVue Salon on the lower level.
Cherie Grisso, Chief Executive Officer, explained the center that connects to 48 Lake Retreat Apartments and is adjacent to The Villas’ 28 apartments is “The vision of what we were 50 years ago and what we are becoming.”
Richfield recently completed 140 new independent living residences, and a new skilled nursing center designed as home-like settings of four separate households for 19 residences each. That totals 76 new rooms.
Later this year the existing Recovery and Care Center – the oldest building on campus – will be demolished to make way for more housing.
A new Roanoke campus under construction on Mecca Drive in the City of Roanoke will have 116 skilled nursing beds.
Speakers at the celebration included Jill Loope, Roanoke County Director of Economic Development, who called the growth and transformation of the Richfield campus “exciting news for Roanoke County. High quality independent living in a superior setting enhances the county’s quality of life and adds to the diversity of services available in our community.”
She continued, “We are grateful for Richfield’s leadership and vision to expand and modernize their campus with the new Town Center development.”
Grisso, Chief Operations Officer Esteban Duran-Ballen, Director of Community and Development Scotti Hartman and Senior Director of Marketing and Philanthropy Lisa Claus greeted visitors that day.
Richfield Living Board Chair Kirtesh Patel and other board members, Roanoke County Supervisors Chair Jason Peters, and Roanoke County Catawba District Supervisor Martha Hooker took up scissors to cut the blue ribbon at the entrance to the Town Center.
Former board member Stewart Bruce and his wife Mary Lou dedicated the atrium in honor of her parents, the late Harvey and Muriel Bredlow.
A capital campaign underway to finance the new construction and renovations has a goal of $1.25 million. So far, $1.15 has been raised, Grisso said.
“Adding 140 apartments to this campus is significant in our growth,” she explained.
Construction costs are approximately $58 million, including building the skilled nursing center, adjusting the Rehab Center, constructing the new independent living residences and the Town Center.
Richfield Living is a not-for-profit community which began as Mercy House in 1934. Richfield Living is a 501(c)3 charitable organization, and gifts are tax deductible within IRS guidelines.
For more information about donating, contact Senior Director of Marketing and Philanthropy Lisa Clause at lclause@richfieldliving.com or Director of Community Development Scotti Hartman at shartman@richfieldliving.com.
(Last week’s article had a few errors. This version is the most accurate)