Grace & Lloyd Mitchell Senior Activity Center
The Grace & Lloyd Mitchell Senior Activity Center in the City of Ripon is a modern community facility that serves as a central hub for residents aged 55 and older. Its mission is to improve the lives of seniors through social interaction and health-focused programming, offering a range of social, recreational, and educational events.
The center opened in early 2023 as a long-anticipated replacement for the previous senior center that had outgrown its space within the lower level of City Hall. Staff had been fundraising at the local level for some time but received the financial boost the project needed with a generous nearly $500,000 gift from the estate of Lloyd Mitchell.
The result is a beautiful 3,650-square-foot facility with a 300-square-foot covered outdoor area, designed to support both senior programming and flexible community use. Located at the south end of Murray Park in Ripon, the center serves as a welcoming hub for daily activities, events, and gatherings for residents. In addition to functioning as a dedicated senior center, the building also operates as a reservable community room, providing space and opportunities for residents of all ages to gather. The site includes expanded parking, accessible walkways, and outdoor spaces that enhance the usability of the facility year ’round.
The building also serves as a key trailhead within Murray Park, offering amenities for visitors and improving access to current and future connections to the Mascoutin Valley State Trail, a 21-mile multimodal trail spanning three counties. This multipurpose approach allows the facility to meet both the social and recreational needs of the community. By combining senior services, community space, and trail access, the Grace & Lloyd Mitchell Senior Center strengthens Murray Park’s role as a central and active destination for the City of Ripon.
MSA provided engineering, architecture, and funding assistance for the $2.4 million project, supported by the Mitchell family estate donation, a $552,000 Community Development Block Grant, $820,000 from the federal American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA), and other local donations. City leaders, project stakeholders, the general public, and senior center staff and residents celebrated the project’s completion with a ribbon-cutting ceremony on January 23, 2023.
Client
City of Ripon
Location
Ripon, WI
Services Provided
Architecture
Funding
Parks and Recreation
Structural Engineering
Contact Project Lead
Carter Arndt, AIA
Senior Project Manager, Architecture
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Evergreen Place Assisted Living Community
Evergreen Place Assisted Living is a 52-apartment senior living community located on the western edge of the City of Champaign that offers resort-style comfort and care. In 2015, MSA partnered with Hallbeck Homes, Inc., on the development of the property and provided the full gamut of in-house services for the project including architectural design, structural engineering, civil engineering, mechanical, electrical and plumbing design (MEP) and site planning — including survey, grading and erosion control and stormwater engineering.
MSA’s goal was to create a truly classy and holistically designed living facility, with ample and varied opportunities for dining, entertainment and exercise. Evergreen Place needed to be comfortable and spacious, while also accommodating the developer’s required number of units, amenities, accessibility standards and security measures. Similar to other senior facilities, there was an increased need for controlled building access as well as clear entrance and exit areas to accommodate different ages and levels of mobility.
Aesthetically, the facility needed to maintain a residential persona while encompassing the common spaces of a more commercial scale. The brick façade, shingled roof and residential detailing maintain a feeling of home, while the sweeping drive-thru canopy and spacious common areas directly inside welcome residents and visitors alike.
The completed facility combines the contentment of home with the excitement of community, designed for elders who both enjoy their independence but also benefit from activities that keep minds and bodies strong. The complex contains a common lounge and dining area with reception desk, fireplace, library and reading nooks as well as smaller lounge and dining areas throughout. Accommodations offer both single and two-bedroom options with private baths, living rooms, kitchenettes and optional outdoor patios.
Residents can utilize the commercial kitchen on site, socialize at the relaxed bistro/pub or can choose a more formal dining experience with chef-prepared meals. Multiple group activity spaces support both mental workouts and physical activities such as dancing, yoga, games and musical performances. Or, residents can meet with trained professionals in the physical therapy and exercise room. A beautiful, enclosed outdoor courtyard offers plenty of room to visit, play shuffleboard or keep golfing skills sharp on the maintenance-free putting green. A nearby pond is stocked for those who enjoy a little sport fishing. Others may enjoy the community’s gardening opportunities or a visit to the in-house hair salon.
As Evergreen Place likes to say, “You’ve worked hard your whole life; now it’s time to relax.” MSA is proud to be a part of that next relaxing chapter in the lives of seniors in the greater Champaign area.
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