Agrace HospiceCare to build new facility in Janesville

December 30, 2010

As reported by By Shelly Birkelo in the Janesville Gazette

JANESVILLE — Agrace HospiceCare hopes to break ground in spring 2012 for a new facility on the city’s northeast side.

J.P. Cullen & Sons will serve as the general contractor to build the 16,000-square-foot building on five acres Agrace HospiceCare is buying in the 3300 block of Sandhill Drive.

Elizabeth Kopling of Agrace HospiceCare said the project is in the preliminary stages. A neighborhood meeting is planned for Tuesday, Jan. 11, to discuss the project with the public.

Kopling said a capital campaign is planned, but a budget and conceptual drawing of the project are yet to be completed.

The new facility and site are the result of months of research into the Rock County hospice market, she said, noting that Agrace HospiceCare now serves about 150 patients in the Rock County area each day.

The new building, she said, will not be an inpatient facility. It will, however, offer more space to allow the organization to operate more efficiently. The site also is big enough to accommodate expansion if, and when, it becomes necessary, she said.

A combination of private and open office spaces in the new building will house education, outreach and recognition events in addition to staff and volunteer trainings plus donor development.

Agrace HospiceCare’s Janesville office now operates out of an 11,000-square-foot building at 3001 W. Memorial Drive. That building, which Agrace HospiceCare owns, will be listed and sold.

Agrace HospiceCare operates out of two offices: one in Madison and the other in Janesville. It’s been in existence since 1978 and provides service in patients’ homes, a Agrace HospiceCare inpatient unit in Fitchburg plus skilled nursing and assisted living facilities throughout south central Wisconsin.

The nonprofit is community based and dedicated to providing physical, emotional and spiritual support daily to 650 patients and families dealing with life-limiting conditions in Rock, Walworth, Green, Jefferson and Dane counties.

J.P. Cullen is a 118-year-old general contracting and construction management firm with its corporate office is in Janesville. It has built multiple assisted living centers in Wisconsin and is currently renovating 165,000 square feet at Lapham Park Assisted Living, Milwaukee.

NEIGHBORHOOD MEETING