Construction site with vehicles and machinery on a clear day. An American flag is on a pole in the foreground, with a road and grass nearby. Trees and a blue sky are in the background.

2 Thessalonians 3:13 says, “As for you, brothers and sisters, do not grow weary in doing good.” For more than ten years the board and leadership of Aase Haugen have been working arduously to achieve the dream to provide the community’s elderly with a much-deserved new place to call home. They did not grow weary, they did not lose focus on the goal, and the dream is now becoming a reality. Earth is moving, and construction has begun on Aase Haugen’s $18 million new senior care facility. It will be located on Highland Drive in Decorah and provide 60 nursing care beds (some with double occupancy options) along with 18 CCDI (Chronic Confusion and Dementing Illness) memory care beds; all with private bathrooms. In addition, there are 12 apartments for Assisted Living, with room for expansion if donor support allows.

The new 72,000+ square foot facility will replace the existing facility on Ohio Street and expand Aase’s campus to include the existing independent senior living neighborhoods of Vennehjem and Nabotunet on Nordic Drive and Glen Barth Circle respectively. Aase Haugen Board of Directors President, Steve Langland, says, “This is a natural extension of our Continuing Care Retirement Community philosophy – to provide all levels of senior care in one organization and now this will be accomplished on one campus.”

“This project was faced with adversity and challenges at almost every turn, but we persevered,” says Langland. “We are proud to build a senior facility to care for everyone in our community, including those without the funds to pay. It has been a heart-warming and uplifting experience of faith.”

A $12.7 million loan from U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Rural Development was awarded to Aase Haugen Senior Services to help with the construction of the new complex. In addition, Aase earned a $1 million grant through Emergency Rural Health Care (ERHC) funds and has self-funded nearly $2 million of the project. “Our capital campaign goal is $3 million,” says Aase Haugen Executive Director, Sam Boeke, “We are at just $1.6 million of that $3 million dollar goal, so we are reaching out to our community to help us shore up the difference. The new Aase Haugen facility will provide much needed senior living options for our community, and most importantly – give the folks who live with us now the new home they deserve.”

“We need to be cognizant of the senior living market,” Boeke reported, “and size the new facility appropriately to be both successful and sustainable for the future.”

“We’ve kept very busy working with outstanding staff at Brickl Brothers, who are our general contractors, and our architects at Align Architecture and Planning of Waterloo,” says Boeke. “And there are so many important and local groups who have supported this mission as well, such as our Aase Haugen member Churches, the local attorney, the county engineer, City of Decorah officials, and Winneshiek County Economic Development and Tourism to name a few.”

Posted November 11, 2024 in New Facility
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