Ashley Gardens Management Inc., of Issaquah, Wash., is building a 20-bed facility for victims of Alzheimers disease and other forms of dementia about a block east of Mead High School, and expects to break ground this spring on another Alzheimers facility in Liberty Lake.


Joel Noiacono, executive director of the Mead facility, which is to be called Ashley Gardens at Northpointe, says the Issaquah company also is considering opening an Alzheimers facility on the South Hill.


Combined, the Mead and planned Liberty Lake projects are expected to cost $8 million, Noiacono says. A cost estimate hasnt been determined yet for the potential project on the South Hill, he says.


Noiacono, who formerly was executive director of the Inland Northwest chapter of the Alzheimers Association here, says the number of people with Alzheimers and other dementia-related diseases is growing and will continue to grow as the population ages. He says its estimated that about 10,000 people in Spokane County had Alzheimers disease in 1990 and that figure was projected to grow to nearly 12,000 by last year.


Noiacono says statistics indicate that about 15 percent of seniors, age 65 and older, will develop Alzheimers disease, and that 47 percent of people age 85 and older are expected to develop the disease.


Work on the 7,300-square-foot, one-story facility in Mead is expected to be completed in April. Noiacono says that eventually a second 7,300-square-foot facility will be built at the same site, which is set back from the northeast corner of Hastings and Ruby roads. The second building could get under way as early as this fall, provided the first building there is filled to capacity by then, he says. Each building will cost about $2 million to construct.


In April, work is expected to get under way on two, 20-bed Alzheimers facilities at a site in Liberty Lake, located off of Country Vista Boulevard and adjacent to Valley View Golf Course. Both buildings will be constructed simultaneously at the Liberty Lake site because the company believes there is a greater unmet need for Alzheimers care in that area than on the North Side, where a number of facilities with Alzheimers care already exist, Noiacono says. The buildings in Liberty Lake are expected to be ready to occupy this fall, he says.


A resource center also will be built at the Liberty Lake site for people here who want to learn more about Alzheimers disease and other forms of dementia. The center will have a library containing information about different types of dementia and a meeting room in which support group meetings can be held for those who care for and/or are related to victims of Alzheimers disease.


Each building planned at the Mead and Liberty Lake facilities will have a single gated entrance leading to the building and a fenced backyard, both of which are designed to allow residents to walk outside without wandering too far from the building.


At the Mead facility, there are two doors at the front of the partially-completed building, which from the outside resembles residences more than a retirement home. Each door opens up to a separate wing, both of which contain a solarium or family room, living room-dining room, kitchen, two bathrooms, eight single-occupancy living units, and a double-occupancy living unit.


The units are located along a hallway that forms a loop, so that residents can use the hallway as a walking path and not become disoriented. Also, a shadow box is built into the wall at the entrance to each living unit, so that it can be filled with a residents memorabilia. Shadow boxes are intended to trigger residents memories and remind them which room is theirs.


When completed, an interior door will connect the two wings so that staff members can move from one side of the building to the other if theyre needed in the case of an emergency. The door, however, wont be designed to be used by residents. Noiacono explains that the two wings are kept separate because victims of Alzheimers can become agitated or disoriented if they find themselves in unfamiliar situations or among strangers.


Staff members not only will prepare meals for the residents, but also will eat with them family-style at a dining room table, Noiacono says. He says each building will employ about 20 people who have been specially trained to work with Alzheimers patients.


Besides the facilities planned in the Spokane area, Ashley Gardens Management operates six other Alzheimers facilities throughout Washington.