Lewis Contractors to Manage Capital Project for Keswick
Keswick, a not-for-profit nursing home and aging services provider serving Baltimore for 140 years, announced plans for a multi-year $65 million capital project for its North and South buildings, aimed at transforming the campus and expanding services to the community.
It is Keswick’s largest single investment in its future, approved in late August by the Board of Directors.
“For 140 years, Keswick has held an unwavering commitment to improving the experience of aging, together, in partnership with the community,” stated Aileen McShea Tinney, Keswick’s president and CEO. With this investment in the nearly 100-year-old campus, Keswick demonstrates its continued growth in service to older adults and those who serve them, into the future.
“This transformational capital project is not only about major mechanical, electrical, and plumbing modernization. It is about ensuring that we offer dignified, accessible, and personalized support and services to older people and those who serve them, in whatever setting they call home,” she said.
The multi-phase project, expected to begin in early 2024 with final completion in 2028, will renovate 107,000 square feet within the existing buildings. The long-term care areas are entirely reimagined, shifting away from the original hospital-like design to the “household” model, where a smaller environment strengthens relationships and the sense of home for residents, families, and team members. All long-term care rooms will remain private, completely redesigned and expanded, along with new household dining and gathering spaces. The household model also extends to Keswick’s plans for a new service line, memory care assisted living.
The project also includes a community-facing, cognitive resource center for people of all ages seeking to maximize brain health and improve cognitive function – including those experiencing challenges in the community – through clinical and non-clinical expertise, assessments, education, and training of formal and informal care partners.
“Certain aspects of this project are in direct response to Baltimore City having the highest prevalence of Alzheimer’s in the United States, at 16.6% among those 65 and older. This is coupled with a clear desire by individuals 50 to 70 and beyond to engage in efforts to optimize their health today and into the future, as we have seen with our Wise & Well members,” Tinney said.
The design and construction team includes the senior living expertise of the global architecture and design firm Perkins Eastman; Lewis Contractors, based in Owings Mills; and HDC, Inc., a real estate project management company based in Baltimore.
With this major capital re-investment, Keswick recognizes the need – now and in the future – for both facility-based care and community-based supports and services for older people.
“Keswick is moving forward, driven by our vision for greater fulfillment and freedom in aging, for all,” Tinney said. “Our aging community – every one of us – should have access to what matters most to us, where and when we need it, across all settings. This major re-investment is made possible by our dedicated Keswick team members, board members, and the Keswick Foundation, without which Keswick would not exist.”
For 140 years, Keswick has ensured access to quality care and resources for older people and their families. Keswick’s service to the community and this transformational project would not be possible without the support of the Keswick Foundation.
