UMRC's Kresge Skilled Nursing & McMullen Wellness and Aquatic Center Reach Completion

The completion of the Kresge Skilled Nursing renovations ends almost a decade of construction on United Methodist Retirement Communities Chelsea, MI campus completing their campus master plan, which EV Construction helped to design.

Early on, the project required the removal of a 50,000-SF building originally constructed in the 1960s to make room for the new expansion. The expansion was the second phase of a major repositioning at the Chelsea Retirement Community. The project included a 15,000-SF addition and extensive renovation to the Kresge Skilled Nursing facility to provide a more dramatic and inviting entrance leading to spacious private resident rooms and open common space for residents and their visitors. The addition included a 29-bed, single-story unit with a new entrance, lobby and resident support space.

Also included in the UMRC Chelsea Master Plan, was the state-of-the-art McMullen Wellness and Aquatic Center addition. The 14,000-SF building was constructed as the initial Kresge Nursing facility expansion started and includes a swimming pool, spa, walking track and group fitness area.

Finally, the renovation touched each of the skilled nursing rooms in the 80-bed facility. EV Construction worked with UMRC to modernize rooms, restrooms and common spaces. Through a grant, unique “household” neighborhoods were created on the second floor. In the main lobby, renovations also included something very unique; a full-service bakery.

Because the campus was occupied during construction, the project had a very long, phased schedule. The addition required a temporary entrance and staff circulation. The renovation affected every square foot and utility system in the building. The added effort needed for scheduling and coordination was worth the extra time to allow for the delivery of a living and rehabilitation product that is modern, comfortable and positioned to service seniors well into the next decade.

The new and upgraded facilities improve the quality of life and care for residents of the community and their families by allowing all skilled nursing rooms to be single occupancy, updating common spaces, modernizing systems and adding amenities to make the UMRC Chelsea Campus a more attractive place to live or receive rehabilitation services.

Kate Collins, chief project development officer of UMRC and Porter Hills, shared, “This was the last phase for a full campus repositioning. EV was involved in the full ten-year master plan and built four of the five projects. This made a 115-year-old campus feel brand new!”

As with any construction project, there were challenges along the way. Rising construction costs, existing conditions in an older building and project team fatigue all required creative thinking and problem solving. Collins also shared, “We literally would not have survived COVID-19 without our private rooms. We would have had to split our double occupancy rooms, which would have cut our census in half. It made all the difference in how we were able to provide care and support over the past year”

EV Construction project executive John Parker stated, “We always enjoy working with the team at UMRC and Porter Hills. We have enjoyed a decade-long partnership that has greatly benefited both companies and resulted in the successful delivery of numerous projects! We are happy to deliver this project to their community and look forward to starting on the next one.”

EV Construction wants to thank all of the management and trades staff that helped bring this project to completion.  The team did a great job navigating all the twists and turns that come along with a project this complex.  It’s projects like this that continue to strengthen EV’s reputation as a leader in complex healthcare construction.