Carol Burns saw far more than a dank old pump house when she first entered the abandoned Cos Cob building five years ago, while searching for a new home for the adult day-care program she'd been running for more than a decade.
Rusty water tanks, grimy valves and neglected machinery littered a floor long damp from a leaky roof. But the facility's structure was intact, and through its broken windows Burns could look out on the tranquil Mianus Pond and roaring dam where an estuary draws dozens of bird species --AOEa healthy and rewarding vista for people suffering with dementia.
'We looked at a bunch of commercial properties and then we walked in here, and in spite of what it looked like, every last person said 'This is where we belong,' ' Burns, executive director of Greenwich Adult Day Care, recalled yesterday from the $5 million renovated facility on River Road Extension.
'It was the right size for us, the right location for us, and when this (pond) freezes, there will be kids ice-skating out here. There will be people with canoes and kayaks in the summertime.'
The nonprofit organization is expected to move next month from its current quarters in The Nathaniel Witherell nursing home's basement --AOEa space that some clients' relatives playfully refer to as 'the dungeon' --AOEinto the Pump House. The new facility's location, on the Post Road at the Mianus River, should make the center more visible to the public and more convenient for clients, Burns said.....
.....Before it opens, the center must receive its Certificate of Occupancy from the town and make a few small improvements, such as replacing a carpet and installing a new gate to a public-access fish ladder beside the dam, Burns said. Even though the facility is very close to opening, Burns said she's not a step back and a deep breath just yet.
"When we open the doors, once the clients come through the door on the first day, then I'll take that step back," Burns said.
For Terry Lionetti, even town residents years away from potentially becoming clients should appreciate the new Greenwich Adult Day Care.
"You look at it and sort of say to yourself, 'God, I hope they have some place like this when I might need it,' " Lionetti said.
Original Norwalk Advocate article: Adult day care moving out of 'dungeon'
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