Concern is growing among the senior citizens who live in the Academy Retirement Community near Spokane’s Mission Park.
Tuesday, tenants were given a six-week notice to vacate the historic building which at one time was a girls private school. Since then, tenants and their family members have been anxiously searching for places to go. The building has about 60 to 70 elderly tenants.
KREM 2 News was at the facility Thursday. We came across Becky Madden as she waited for an elevator up to third floor. She was holding a stack of large plastic containers.
"I've packed it a couple of times, not looking forward to packing it again,” Madden said.
Madden was headed up to her 90-year-old mother’s apartment. Her mother, Joalys, has been living in the building for 14 years. Madden was there to clear out her mother’s china cabinet filled with sentimental knick-knacks, the first step in moving her mother out of the place she’s called home for more than a decade.
"She's had ups and downs. And she's scared,” Madden said.
Madden said they expect to pay about $4,000 to get her mother into her new facility.
"Apartments like this, at her price range, are just not available in Spokane. I've called eight or nine places. They have waiting lists. They have higher rents and when you're on a fixed income there is only so much money to go around,” Madden said.
Stellar Senior Living, a Utah-based senior living property management company, recently purchased the building. The company has offered a $500 moving concession for each unit.
"Damage deposits, community rentals, packing, moving, and things like that, so $500 is just a drop in the bucket,” Madden said.
Reba Crosby is fairly new to the Academy Retirement Community. She has been there for about three years. And while she has a place to go, some of her neighbors do not.
"It's really sad to watch. You see these people they're just crying. What can you do? It made me cry to watch them,” Crosby said. "This all came to us just two days ago. And I just think it's really rotten.”
Many of the residents we spoke to said it was very expensive to move and they wanted more time to find a new place to live. Staff members and loved ones expressed concern for residents’ physical, mental and emotional health. One staff member remarked it is a tough transition for elderly people to go through, especially on this scale.
Adam Benton, a Stellar Senior Living representative, was also at the Academy Retirement Community building Thursday. He told KREM 2, they had no plans to push back the deadline to vacate the property. He said residents were given adequate time to move.
The company plans to begin the renovations sometime in November. The cost of the construction work is projected to be in the millions and it could take anywhere from 10 to 12 months to complete. The building could potentially still be a senior living facility. However, they are strongly considering using it for multifamily apartments. Benton said the use of the building is something they will revisit when the renovations near completion.
The current staff at the facility are helping the residents find housing. The entire staff made up of about 40 people will be let go when they shut down for renovations.