Wheaton senior living facility unveils new digs
Mary Warburton has always been an artist. Now, thanks to a $2.2 million renovation of the Wyndemere Senior Living Community that includes a brand new creative arts studio, she can create whenever she wants.
She says working in the new studio has helped her creativity.
“I am there all the time with my big easel,” she said. “You are constantly finding new inspiration with the colors and the lights.”
An open house that attracted area leaders and residents showcased the new digs on Thursday, which included a renovated beauty salon, the new studio and an updated bistro. The modernized fitness center geared toward seniors was also unveiled. A March 2010 deal between the facility’s previous owner, Central DuPage Hospital, and its new owners, Life Care Services, paid for the work.
Executive Director Erin Donaldson said the renovations were a reaction to the facility’s more than 400 residents.
“Our goal is to be progressive and listen to our residents,” said Donaldson, who has led the facility about 18 months. “The enhancements reflect the personalities of our residents.”
During a short reception in the bistro, Donaldson highlighted the facility as an “integral part of the community.”
Wheaton Mayor Mike Gresk agreed.
“It’s a resource to the community in many ways,” said Gresk, who attended the event along with his wife, Kathleen, and several city council members. “Because of its roots being a product of Central DuPage Hospital, it is very much a community-oriented group. It became a part of the community in an educational, grassroots kind of way.”
Central DuPage Hospital opened the 22-acre campus just south of the DuPage County Fairgrounds in August 1993.
Life Care Services, based in Des Moines, Iowa, took over in March 2010. It now includes 238 independent living units and 65 assisted-living apartments. Additionally, it includes a 158-bed skilled nursing facility.
The renovations transformed the ground floor of Wyndemere’s main building.
As tours flowed through the new rooms, with Wyndemere tour guides leading the way, they stopped in the creative arts studio. Resident Michael Hammer, a former ski instructor who now serves as an art instructor in the studio, showed off some of his students’ artwork. Several paintings lined the walls and he then praised Mary Warburton’s drawings.
Warburton and her husband, Bob, have been married six years. Before they met, each of them had been married previously for more than 50 years.
Now, Mary, 86, paints and Bob, 85, leads literature classes on topics such as Ernest Hemingway and other authors. They say the new amenities definitely add to their quality of life together.
“We are fortunate enough to be vertical,” Bob said. “This renovation gives residents the opportunity to meet and follow up with those who have the same interests.”