Connaught Redevelopment
CONNAUGHT REDEVELOPMENT:
PRESERVING THE HERITAGE,
BUILDING FOR THE FUTURE
The Vision For Renewal
Based on the positive feedback received from the community and a desire to ensure ongoing care and support for local seniors, the Massawippi Retirement Communities Board of Directors embarked on a large scale investment plan and Capital Campaign to transform Connaught and Grace Village into seniors' residences with state-of-the-art security, care capabilities and community-oriented resources. With the community feedback in hand Massawippi Retirement Communities developed a Vision For Renewal built around a two-phase implementation plan, since as a not-for-profit with funding entirely based on donations it was impossible to support redevelopment projects at both Connaught and Grace Village at the same time.
Phase One priority was given to complete the new Grace Village Care Pavilion in order to accommodate existing residents of both Connaught Home and Grace Village, with Connaught redevelopment to follow as quickly as funding would permit. The new Grace Village Care Pavilion opened in July 2017 and Massawippi Retirement Communities then applied for the necessary building permits to proceed with Phase Two, the partial demolition and reconstruction of the Connaught Home.
The Massawippi Retirement Communities - North Hatley Collaboration
Massawippi Retirement Communities subsequently entered then into a collaborative initiative with the Municipality of the Village of North Hatley that included the mutual shared-cost engagement of a third party architectural firm (Service d'aide-conseil en rénovation patrimoniale).
The purpose of this initiative was to ensure that the design of the new Connaught Apartments would maintain as much as possible the heritage of the historical Connaught building as well as North Hatley's Main St., while improving the appearance of the rest of the aging structure.
Final architectural plans in compliance with the results of the collaboration and architect's recommendations cost Massawippi Retirement Communities in excess of $120,000, and were approved by the Municipality of the Village of North Hatley per the timeline highlights below.
See the images below taken from the approved plans.