⊕ UPDATE: Dominion dedicates Crossville site

Dominion corporate chaplain John Dee holds a Bible that will be buried in the foundation at the company's new assisted living community in Crossville. UCBJ Photo/Liz Engel Clark
Dominion corporate chaplain John Dee holds a Bible that will be buried in the foundation at the company’s new assisted living community in Crossville. UCBJ Photo/Liz Engel Clark

CROSSVILLE – Ground has already been broken at the future home of Dominion Senior Living in Crossville, but officials gathered at the site on Thursday to formally dedicate those grounds.

Grading work is well underway at 887 Woodlawn Road, and Dominion officials say the build out of their new 5.25 million, 25,000-square-foot assisted living facility will only take a matter of months. Thursday’s events, however, were less about logistics and more about preparations of a different kind.

A small service was led by John Dee, corporate chaplain, who blessed the property through prayer. He presented a Bible that included petitions and well wishes for facility, written by those involved in the project. It will be buried in the foundation.

“Our mission – at its most simple – is to honor God by service through seniors, and that’s what we want to do,” Dominion Senior Living Vice President Josh Crisp said. ” We want to ask a blessing.”

The event was attended by Dominion, city and chamber representatives as well as the local Alzheimer’s Association, who hopes to partner with the community – Dominion will be the only facility in the city designed for seniors with memory impairment.

Dominion expects to be up and running by the second quarter 2016. The community will be licensed to provide care for 60 residents.

Grading work is underway at the future home of Dominion Senior Living in Crossville. UCBJ Photo/Liz Engel Clark
Grading work is underway at the future home of Dominion Senior Living in Crossville. UCBJ Photo/Liz Engel Clark

Knoxville-based Dominion Senior Living announced plans for the facility in late May. Dominion Crossville will offer therapy and wellness programs; professionally trained nurses and caregivers; transportation and laundry service; on-site medical assistance; and a large courtyard with picnic areas, games and sensory gardens, among other features. The facility can cater to various levels of assistance, Crisp said, from high functioning seniors looking for activity, socialization, and a sense of community to those with significant cogitative impairments, like Alzheimer’s and various dementias.

“We’ve been working on this project for several years, and to finally get it to closure is really exciting,” Crisp told the UCBJ in June. “It’s very unique for the Crossville area. There’s not a lot of senior services between Cookeville and Knoxville, and even greater of a need is memory care services. A lot of people are also really excited about the culture we’ll create, which is faith-based, compassionate care. We’re very excited to be moving into a community that’s been underserved for a long time.”

The community will have 40 apartments and be licensed for 60 beds. Crisp expects the facility will be “established” – or at least 90-93 percent full – within 18 months of opening, ahead of the industry average.

“We believe that communities that are smaller in nature really work well in cities like Crossville,” he said. “It allows us to provide better care. I think we’re going to be able to capture a lot of the need from the surrounding counties as well.”

Crisp says they’ve received several inquires, not only from potential residents, but from those interested in employment as well. Dominion’s initial announcement came just a day after Cumberland County received word that Ficosa North America would close its plant there once a new manufacturing facility in neighboring Putnam County is complete. Once fully operational, Dominion expects to create 50 jobs in Crossville, ranging from dining services, housekeeping, maintenance, management and nursing.

“We hope to hire all the staff from right here in Crossville,” Crisp said. “We’re excited to be a part of the community.”

Liz Engel is the editor of the Upper Cumberland Business Journal. She can be reached at liz@ucbjournal.com

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