Alzheimer's Care Facility Headed to South County

A memory care facility at Butler Hill and Tesson Ferry roads received unanimous support in a public hearing with the St. Louis County Planning Commission Monday.

Avalon Memory Care, L.L.C. requested a change in zoning from commercial to residential property, along with a conditional use permit for the facility.

The $5 million group home, which borders and Quail Creek subdivision, would house 40 units for Alzheimer’s patients.

The two, 10,000 square-foot buildings would have minimal impact on its neighbors, civil engineer Bruce Poehlman said. The 2.9-acre lot is on a 40-foot hill that would limit visibility to area residents.

A symbolic vote at the hearing showed four people in favor of the home and none against. Pending county approval, Avalon Director Chris Seib hopes to start construction in late fall, and be open by April of 2013. 

The Dallas-based company expects to build several homes in the St. Louis area and picked its first location because of “the lack of small home environments for Alzheimer's care in South County,” Seib said.

The planning commission asked the director if Avalon would be competing with Delmar Gardens.

The home has a retirement community plus a 20-bed wing for Alzheimer and dementia patents, but the difference lies in skilled nursing rather than assisted living.

Delmar Gardens, Seib said, can care for additional medical conditions and has registered nurses on duty.

“This means residents require much higher degrees of medical care than what we would give,” Seib said.

Avalon Memory Care would be an assisted living facility, meaning residents are responsible for their own bed times and can walk throughout the home. The staff would work primarily with patients in the mid-to-late stages of Alzheimer’s.

“It’s a big thing to these people that they be allowed to go to the refrigerator and get orange juice or stay up late and not have to follow a regimen that unfortunately institutional settings have to follow,” Seib said. “In our home, they can go out into the courtyard and work in the flower gardens.”

Each unit will have its own bathroom, but meals will be served in a common area. Seib estimated $6,200 a month for a private room and $5,700 for a semiprivate room.

Residents of the home will be secured with a fenced area and the company is looking at devices that alert caregivers if someone wanders outside the perimeter.

Seib said the facility will have a unique floor plan that keeps residents within 22 feet of their room.

“That’s a big deal for Alzheimer patients, when they get in a large institution, it’s really difficult for them to find their way down long hallways,” he said.

The director said he hopes to fill the units with referrals from as well as Delmar Gardens.

Department of Planning staff will recommend approval or denial of the project at their next meeting in June.