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A housing need for senior citizens may be addressed by local business owners and the Grand Coulee Dam Senior Center, which is helping to fund studies that could lead to a large project.

Centerline Development, owned by Nic Alexander and Ian Turner, purchased the former school located on 8.3 acres between Spokane Way and Martin Road in 2019 for $155,000.

The pair has planned to help develop senior citizen living quarters at the former school, as well as single-family homes on the surrounding property.

“We’ve heard nothing but positive feedback on the Assisted Living Facility concept with unanimous support from the Senior membership,” an email from Turner and Alexander to The Star reads.

At a March 14 meeting at the senior center, the pair was joined by Jerry Trutwold of Senior Services of America. The company manages all aspects of 21 senior-living facilities in Washington, Oregon, Idaho and California, according to its website. Fourteen are in Washington, offering a range of services from independent living to assisted living and memory care.

Together, they explained their vision for a project, and answered questions from those attending, including senior center board members who pledged up to $25,000 towards the necessary studies.

The senior center will first fund a $7,000 market research study done by Sage Age. If that study doesn’t conclude that the project is likely to be successful, further studies won’t be done.

If success seems likely, those further studies would include financial studies, an architectural plan and legal expenses, among other things, Trutwold explained, totalling about $50,000.

From there, he estimated the full project to cost $10-$15 million “to turn that current old school into a beautiful new facility that will meet the needs of your community.”

“Where’s the money going to come from?” Trutwold asked rhetorically at the meeting. “There’s tax exempt funding, there’s grants, there’s [U.S. Department of Agriculture] money, Rural Development, and those are all things that we will be looking at, to see if there’s a way to pull this off. The one thing that we need now is seed money to get started, we need seed money for a market study.”

The group spoke at some length about how advantageous it would be for the local community, including for hospitals, jobs, and for elderly people who prefer to live in a rural area.

Some of those in attendance expressed concerns that it might be too expensive to stay at the facility, or that locals wouldn’t be prioritized.

With the facility to be governed by a non-profit organization, with community members on the board, Trutwold explained that locals could be prioritized by the board and prices kept reasonable.

There would be roughly 50 beds at the facility total, ranging from more independent living situations to setups for those who need more care.

“It's a slow process,” Turner said, “but it’s an important process, and it’s got us to this point where we’ve started to engage the community. We’re looking for local volunteers that want to be part of that solution, want to have some input, and really be able to advise on what this facility can become, make sure it’s exactly what we need for the Coulee.

“This can be a huge plus for our community,” Cheryl Hoffman, president of the senior center said, listing benefits such as the skilled jobs and career opportunities the facility could offer as well.

Separate from the senior living project, there could also be smaller family homes built on the surrounding property by Centerline Development.

Alexander told The Star that he felt like the meeting was a success.

He expressed optimism in the project coming together because “there’s a strong need in the greater area.”

Alexander explained to The Star he and Turner are simply helping connect the dots in putting SSA in touch with community members for the senior living project, and that if the project gets built, Centerline Development would no longer be involved with it, and would no longer own that property or manage it.

The email from Alexander and Turner further emphasized this point.

“Centerline is not receiving any of these funds, nor is the operator, Senior Services of America (SSA),” the email explains, with the senior center directly funding the market research study. “Centerline will have no long-term role in this project,” the email continues. “While Centerline and SSA clearly have a vested interest in seeing this project come to fruition, thus far we have committed well over 1,000 combined hours of pro bono services with the potential for zero compensation. Finally, Centerline has much more profitable long-term options for this robust building that it is willing to forego in order to see this critical need met for our community.

“In short, we feel it would be accurate to state that we, with assistance from the Grant County [Economic Development Council], have helped initiate an effort to bring a much-needed asset to the community by developing a relationship with an experienced ALF operator (SSA). The Senior Center has expressed their interest and support of the effort by agreeing to fund feasibility level expenses necessary for SSA to advance the project and determine final feasibility.”