Bragg Creek seniors are closer to realizing the dream of affordable and accessible housing options in their community thanks to a local landowner.
Dick Koetsier, 45, donated about three acres of land in the Hamlet of Bragg Creek for a senior’s housing project. The announcement was made Sept. 12 at a fundraising event attended by about 350 people at the Bragg Creek Community Centre.
“We are really ecstatic,” said Bragg Creek Seniors Housing Society (BCSHS) Vice Chair Karen Nordgaard. “This man was far more generous than we ever thought possible. He is a part time resident of Bragg Creek. It is his sanctuary, that is why it is even more generous on his part.”
With the building site secured and a memorandum of understanding reached, BCSHS will focus on getting the three acres rezoned and subdivided from Koetsier’s approximately 13 acres.
BCSHS has been working on this project since 2008. After surveying the community, the organization learned there is a need for transitional senior’s housing.
“Clearly the community was onside and seniors very much wanted housing,” said Nordgaard, adding the only type of multi housing development added to the community area structure plan was for senior’s housing.
Currently, the group plans to build about 16 clustered, bungalow-style independent living units. The design will include extensive pathways and gathering options and will be in close proximity to senior’s chalet and hamlet commercial core amenities.
The project, which is expected to be completed in the fall of 2012, will boast environmentally sensitive building materials and practices and will be consistent with the rural, forested environment of the hamlet.
“We are committed to this project, it is a critical community need,” said Nordgaard.
“Currently, seniors who can no longer manage their single family dwellings or acres have to leave the community because there are no other options. They lose that whole network of friends, at a time when they most need it.”
Koetsier is hopeful the project can get underway quickly.
“I believe it is a really good thing for the community as a whole to create a place for these people that deserve a place,” said Koetsier.
“They are the ones that built the community. I want to leave a positive legacy in Bragg Creek.”
