Siena Partners To Hold Presentation On $55 Million Senior Care Campus

UPDATE: An informational presentation by Siena Partners, Inc., a collaboration between the Racine Dominicans and Lincoln Lutheran, will be held at 6 p.m. Wednesday, January 11, 2012 in the Siena Center Auditorium, 5635 Erie Street, Racine, Wisconsin.

The presentation will focus on preliminary plans for the renovation, reconstruction and additions to the existing Siena Center located at 5635 Erie Street in the Village of Caledonia to provide for a retreat, community supportive living apartments, independent living apartments, a skilled nursing facility/memory care unit and a rehabilitation/community based residential facility. 

ORIGINAL STORY: While plans to build a $55 million senior care campus have yet to be presented to the Village of Caledonia, officials with Siena Partners, Inc. said they plan to demolish parts of the Siena Center building.

The building, located at 5635 Erie St. and built in the mid-1960s, once served as a home for 175 Racine Dominican nuns. Now, 60 nuns live there. Three wings on the building are expected to be demolished starting sometime in December, said Jean Mullooly, director of communication for the Racine Dominicans.

“This is exciting,” Mullooly said. “It’s been a couple of years in the works with Lincoln Lutheran. So it took many conversations in coming to this decision.”

The construction project, which is the largest in the ’s history, is a partnership between the Racine Dominicans and Lincoln Lutheran. The two have joined forces to create Siena Partners, Inc. Once completed, the independent living, assisted living, skilled nursing and memory care facilities will be owned and overseen by Siena Partners, Inc. with Lincoln Lutheran as managers. Lincoln Lutheran will still run its existing facilities, and the Sisters will maintain their other ministries (Eco-Justice Center, HOPES Center, etc.) independently.

Mullooly said a public meeting was held last week and the project was well received.

“We heard some concerns about roads and construction, but I think that is normal,” Mullooly said. “I also heard people say, ‘We’re so glad you are doing this rather than just allowing someone to come in and build some monstrosity.'"

“We stressed the various ways with which our focus is on sustainability and we’ll only be doing as much as we can afford,” she said.

The impending project was also the topic of discussion at the Caledonia Public Works Committee meeting Wednesday. The architecture plans are expected to be presented sometime before the end of the year. One issue that has already been raised is the potential construction of 4 ½ Mile Road between Erie and Charles streets, said Mike Hayek, the Village Engineer.

He told the Committee members that he’d recommend that the project include the cost of extending 4 ½ Mile Road.

“That’ll be a big topic of discussion, it always is, how do we assess the cost of this project?” Hayek said. “I’m going to throw it out there that they should be paying for all of it as a starting point for discussion.”

Hayek said he’s already had discussions with officials with Lincoln Lutheran and Siena Partners about the topic.

Jerry Griswold, a Public Works Committee and Village Board member, said he would not be comfortable with “the sisters paying for all of the (road construction)” since the community would also be using the road.

*This verson clarifies the relationship between Lincoln Lutheran and the Racine Dominicans, which have joined together on this project.