Mentone Garden Court Open House

Thursday, June 19th, was the Open House and dedication of Mentone Garden Court.  The dedication was attended by representatives from all of the organizations involved as well as local officials, current residents and prospective residents.  Dean Byers, Vice President of Garden Court, made the introductions and the President of the Mentone Chamber of Commerce had the honor cutting the ribbon with the big scissors.  

I was pleased to hear many compliments from residents that have moved in during the last month.  I spoke with several residents during the ceremonies and also sat and talked with some of them while enjoying refreshments.  They all seemed pleased with the new facility.

Mentone Garden Court is the fifth Garden Court project we have completed.  Past projects have been in the communities of Argos, Bourbon, Knox and Plymouth.  Currently Garden Court has an application in for a new facility in Lapaz which we hope to construct next Spring.

Garden Court is a not-for-profit corporation located in Plymouth and is administered by a volunteer board.  The projects are funded by HUD with some token participation by the local community.  They are considered assisted living facilities, in that the rent is income based.  They are senior housing units, but no nursing or other medical assistance is provided at the facilities.

All of the Garden Court projects we have constructed have been single story, wood frame, slab-on-grade structures.  They sit on 2 to 2-1/2 acre sites.  We have used factory constructed wall panels to expedite construction on these projects.  This is similar methodology to that used for pre-constructed trusses.  P.T. McKinnis has been our site superintendent on all five past projects and with his help we have stream-lined a system for the construction of these facilities to where they track consistently within a week or two of the previous facility’s construction schedule.

We have had discussions with Culver regarding a facility here, but unfortunately we have not been able to find a property owner willing to participate.  HUD requires that these properties have their own access to a dedicated street or highway, onsite parking, municipal water and municipal sewer.  The Culver Town Council has given their blessing to the support of a project here and has agreed to provide the $10k in local participation funds.  We have also had discussions with the Plan Commission and Board of Zoning Appeals regarding variances that would be required and they also have been positive.  Still, without a property owner making  suitable property available, we can’t move forward.