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Victory Ridge Opens for Seniors

Friday: May 5, 2006

The theme was “Promises Fulfilled” Thursday as Catholic Health System opened the doors of Victory Ridge Apartments, the first phase of the rebirth of the former Our Lady of Victory Hospital complex in Lackawanna.

“We made a promise…when we closed it… that we wouldn’t let the building get boarded up,” said Dennis J. McCarthy, vice president of public relations and public affairs.

True to their world, the 74 apartments for low-to moderate-income seniors citizens are move-in ready. The three-story building along Melroy Avenue had housed medical offices.

“We got our certificate of occupancy last week and we have eight people moving in Saturday,” Aimee Gomlak Brace, vice president of strategic development, said Thursday.

In the meantime, there will be an open house and tours today and Saturday.

Today’s hours are 3:30 to 6 p.m. Saturday’s hours are 10 a.m. to noon.

The entire renovation will cost $27.7 million. Still to come are the 84-bed skilled nursing facility—construction can’t start until the state grants approval, possibly next month – and a comprehensive adult day program. September 2007 is the targeted completion date of the second phase and 2008 for the third.

Occupying the top two floors of the building, one-and two- bedroom apartments range from 608 to 1,100 square feet and offer amenities geared toward residents’ mobility, such as kitchen sinks that are wheelchair-accessible. Rents are income-based and include heat and electricity.

A commercial-style laundry room and community room with a fully equipped kitchen are on the ground floor.

During tours of the building Thursday, eyes widened in surprise as people walked through furnished model apartments and may people jokingly staked their claims on particular units.

“We had 555 people request applications,” Brace said. “Now we have 20 people ready to move in -- signed leases for the first few months.”

That demand should prove beneficial to another Lackawanna senior housing project just waiting for the ribbon-cutting ceremony.

People Inc. has transformed the former Franklin Street School into Sunflower Housing, 49 one-bedroom apartments for senior citizens. There also is an apartment for a live-in caretaker.

Tenants have begun moving in during the past few weeks, according to Kevin Horrigan, director of public affairs. The ribbon-cutting ceremony is expected to be held in June.

The yearlong renovation cost approximately $4 million.