Construction crews were still busy at Notre Dame Village Aug. 20 as residents moved into their new homes.
Construction crews were still busy at Notre Dame Village Aug. 20 as residents moved into their new homes.
The 81-unit apartment structure was ready for seniors, the memory-care “small house” had received its occupancy permit and some cottages along Auburn Road in Munson Township had been completed and landscaped as of Monday afternoon.
A year ago, the 50-acre hayfield had a few gravel roads and an underground parking deck carved into it, leaving a small mountain of dirt a few hundred feet from the road right-of-way.
A year later, the landscape has drastically and positively changed under the curious eyes of many Geauga County residents and passers-by.
Monday, Sister Margaret Gorman, provincial superior, and representatives from Jennings, the project developer, hosted a tour of Notre Dame Village with enthusiasm for the work done and the promise to come.
Geauga County has the fastest aging population in Ohio, with 30 percent projected to be senior citizens by 2020, Gorman said. But, when Geauga seniors decide they can no longer maintain a house and property, they often have had to move out of the county to find affordable, livable homes. It is a fact in many parts of the country.
“We’re part of a silver tsunami,” Gorman said, adding there was a shortage of housing on the Notre Dame campus for nuns who were retiring and seeking a location where they could age in place.
“We mirror the aging of the U.S.,” she said.
The sisters saw a happy opportunity to meet the needs of the community as well as those of their worldwide order, Gorman said.
They partnered with Jennings, which is a Catholic-based organization headquartered in Garfield Heights, to provide residences and services for the area’s older adults.
With 450 acres of land acquired over the decades no longer needed for agriculture, the Sisters of Notre Dame decided to build a new community and work to meld it with their private school of more than 1,200 primary and secondary students, she said.
The Sisters of Notre Dame have always been dedicated to education and Gorman said the village will embrace life-long learning for its residents, but the shift means more to the order. She called the concept “our newest ministry.”
Jennings was chosen to manage the planning and construction project and will be managing the operations of Notre Dame Village.
“Even though we are life-long learners, we didn’t want to learn a new business,” Gorman said.
Retiring nuns from the international order will get first dibs on apartments and when they no longer need living quarters, those apartments also will be leased to the public, she said.
Jennings CEO Allison Salopeck said the Catholic nonprofit organization is sponsored by the Sisters of the Holy Spirit and is honored to be chosen to partner to people of all faiths.
Seniors age 65 and up will be able to take advantage of the educational center, she said, adding residents will have the chance to engage with younger people, creating an intergenerational community on the shared campus, Salopeck said.
If demand for the cottages increases, the property could support as many as 50 of the independent-living homes, she said.
The asphalt roads winding among the various buildings are private and the wells and wastewater treatment plant serving the school and church are sufficient for the planned community, said Lisa Brazytis.
It will be up to the state to decide if the buildings at Notre Dame Village, which are owned by a religious order, qualify for an exemption or partial exemption from property taxes, said Chris Grenawalt, from the Geauga County Auditor’s Office.
Read related article Senior Homes Meet Variety of Needs for more details about the development.
