A crowd of well wishers attended this morning’s ribbon-cutting ceremony on the new addition to the Rowley memorial Masonic Community in Perry.
Construction on the $20 million addition began in January 2014, and residents of the facility moved from the old to the new rooms Feb. 11, according to Nancy Johnson, projects coordinator at the Rowley.
John C. Powell, secretary-treasurer of Otley Masonic Lodge 299 in Perry, cut the blue and white ribbon at about 10 a.m. as onlookers applauded. Powell was joined in the ceremony by Perry City Administrator Butch Niebuhr and Perry City Council member Chuck Schott.
The 72,000-square-foot addition expands the range of services at the continuing-care community, Johnson said. The Rowley Memorial Masonic Community offers independent living, assisted living, health care, dementia care and transitional rehabilitation, she said.
“Everyone is welcome to come tour our beautiful new facility,” Johnson said, “and to come to our open house on April 11 from 2-4 p.m.”
What the future holds for the original building, built in 1957, is uncertain, she said. It might be repurposed for use as office space and administration, but the next steps depend on the results of a financial-feasibility study now underway, Johnson said.
