Bethel Park to construct senior living facility
The former Logan Elementary School was used to educate some of Bethel Park’s youngest residents, but soon, the site will house some of the community’s oldest.
Bethel Park council granted final approval Feb. 9 for plans to build a 132-unit, senior housing development at the site on Keystone Drive.
The developer will demolish the old school and build a four-story building in its place. Work should start in late spring and it should be ready for its first residents by summer 2016.
“Our typical resident will probably be over 70,” said Richard E. Sobehart, chief operating officer for Retirement Management Services, a Pittsburgh-based company that will operate the facility. “People living there will not have to worry about house maintenance.”
Residents also won’t have to worry about cooking meals, since three meals a day will be served in the building. It will also feature various activities for seniors, a fitness center, beauty salon, worship center and drivers to take residents to doctor’s appointments.
Sobehart said the typical cost for rent will be $1,600 to $3,000 a month and will include all meals, utilities and services. His company operates a similar facility in North Versailles.
Logan School has not been used as an elementary school for at least 20 years. It more recently served as classrooms for Community College of Allegheny County, but it has been unused for the past four years while Bethel Park School District tried to sell the property. The developer purchased it last May for $700,000.
The project was somewhat controversial at first, said Councilman Mark O’Brien. Nearby residents had several concerns, but O’Brien said the developer worked through those issues and settled many residents’ uneasiness.
“I have nothing but praise for the developer,” O’Brien said. “I think this is something positive to come from this property. It is a beautiful plan that will enhance the neighborhood.”
In another matter, council recognized three police officers – Kenneth Radinick, Ed Kach and Blake Babin – with the David McNary award for exemplary service, and gave a special award to the family of Joey Fabus, the 8-year-old boy who became an honorary police officer before dying of a brain tumor last month.