Project would keep Capreol seniors 'close to home'

Eli Martel, former Sudbury East MPP and Tullio Ricci, a former Capreol fire chief, are on a mission to help house seniors as they age.

“We have to keep seniors closer to home,” Martel said at the city's planning committee meeting on Sept. 21. He said it was inefficient for health-care workers to have to travel the distances required for residents in outlying areas.

Their request to rezone a 4.9 hectare parcel of lane on Coulson Street in Capreol, where they said they hope to build a 44-unit assisted-living seniors residence and a future long-term care facility, was approved. It now must be approved by city council.

The buildings would be built by the non-profit Capreol Long-Term and Supportive Housing, Ricci said. Ricci is the president of the non-profit, created last year. Martel is also on the board of directors at the organization.

To date, the organization has built 40 geared-to-income and affordable housing units in Capreol.

Assisted-living housing rents the apartments and space to residents, while the government funds nursing care, Ricci explained. He said they are looking at a range of options to support seniors in the units who may be unable to clean, cook, or shop themselves.

“Finlandia Village is an outstanding example,” he said. “They have a number of levels of service from total independence to where meals are served in a dining hall. That is what we are planning for.”

Martel said the next step in the project is board approval for a letter campaign and recruiting volunteer canvassers to help raise the money for the project.

“We already have a conceptual design from architects Yallowega Belanger, but we need to raise another $150,000 for a detailed design,” he said. “Then we can go to provincial and federal funders in April next year when their budgets for seniors housing come out.”

Martel said he expected the fundraising drive to start shortly.

City staff said the Capreol site is large enough to accommodate the proposed and future facilities and the intended use fits the surrounding neighbourhood.

City staff received letters from local residents supporting the project, but asking a buffer zone between residential properties and the facility. Both Martel and Ricci said the plans included the buffer zone.