The Countryside Adult Home, owned and operated by Warren County in Warrensburg, is getting a $4.7 million renovation to address structural needs and to make the facility more modern for residents and staff, a press release from the county says.
Warren County Planning and Community Development secured a $1.3 million state grant for the project, and $950,000 will come from Warren County’s portion of the federal American Rescue Plan Act. The rest, about $2.45 million, will come from the county’s funds, through bonding and use of fund balance, the county says.
“Countryside Adult Home provides vital services to our seniors, and Warren County’s investment in our adult home will improve the lives of those who live and work at Countryside for years to come,” said Warrensburg Town Supervisor Kevin Geraghty in the press statement. He is also the county board chair.
The renovation of the 48-bed home on Schroon River Road in Warrensburg stems from an engineering assessment in 2019. The project may have started back then but was slowed by the pandemic.
“Countryside could not allow people from outside the facility in the building for nearly 18 months because of COVID protocols,” county spokesperson Don Lehman wrote in an email.
According to the county’s 2019 Annual Report, the priority projects for the location included:
- ADA signage at handicap parking; repairing the steel railing bases at the stairs; installing a dedicated concrete walkway.
- Investigating the concrete slab in the living room; infill the sloping floor.
- Repair or replace unit ventilators, exhaust fans, building pumps, pneumatic controls to DDC, a move to electric controllers from controllers that use pneumatic lines (ie: air pressure) to activate ventilators, add Energy Recovery Ventilation ductwork for ventilation, and repair the fireplace flue.
- Replace the electrical generator and fire alarm system.
- Add a water softening system and replace broken hose bibs.
The county says that $1.2 million will be used for air filtration improvements, bringing the building’s filtration to the MERV-13 standard recommended to combat spread of COVID-19. The American Rescue Plan funding will help to fund this portion of the project.
The project will also include the addition of air conditioning. The building’s roof, doors and windows are to be replaced, while plumbing and electrical improvements will be made as well, the press materials say.
The overall cost includes price hikes in both labor and materials due to the pandemic.
“The goal is to address as many of the high priority items from the engineering report as possible, but with escalating material costs, it’s still unclear if all will get done,” Lehman wrote.
Estimates in the 2019 report put the job to fix the priority items from about $500,000 to about $600,000. The estimate for the full complement of needs then was about $3 million.
However, estimates are not binding proposals, and the list of what will be done now and what was listed then are not identical. The report, completed in June 2019, predates the pandemic.
For instance, an air filtration system that should help fight COVID is not mentioned in the 2019 report.
“We are very excited about the impact this work will have. Our care here for residents at Countryside Adult Home has always been superb, and with these improvements our facility will be top-notch as well,” said Amy McByrne, director of the home, in a statement.
Countryside Adult Home opened in 1981. Countryside offers an adult day care program in addition to residential services. Construction is scheduled to begin in late 2022.
According to the county’s website, the home offers activities such as board games, shopping trips to local stores, field trips to places such as Hicks Orchard and the Adirondack Hot Air Balloon Festival. It also helps residents get to doctor’s appointments, handle their medications and bathe, among other services.