By David Eck

DAYTON DEANERY — St. Leonard is planning for a $27 million expansion project that will eventually add five new buildings and represent a 56 percent increase in square footage to the Centerville senior living community.

Infrastructure improvements will begin in February, and new construction will immediately follow. The new buildings include a memory support skilled nursing building, a memory support assisted living building, an assisted living building, a wellness center (and clubhouse), and an independent living apartment building.

Construction on all but the apartment building will begin next year. Presales will dictate the construction of that building, St. Leonard officials said.

The project has been in the planning stages for about 10 years.

"We want to make sure we have the amenities the next generation is looking for," said Doris Jones, director of marketing and business development. "Our goal is to keep St. Leonard alive and well into the future."

The architects have worked with the natural slope of the area, and designed the layout of the two memory support buildings to accommodate skilled nursing on the second floor, with an accessible secured terrace. The first floor will accommodate assisted care residents who will have access to a secured courtyard on their level. Each floor is designed with two households consisting of fifteen bed units.

Memory services will expand accommodations by 60 total bed units or four households and 48,000 square feet.

The assisted living building is a 20,000 square foot, 2-story structure consisting of 24 one or two bedroom units.

A highlight of the expansion will be the wellness center. The building will feature a clubhouse, fitness, aerobic and weight training center, classrooms and meeting and event space. It will also include a swimming pool, locker rooms, and a therapeutic spa area.

The expansion is being funded through tax-exempt bonds and donations. St. Leonard is expected to add 58 full-time jobs because of the expansion. The community now has 192 full-time and 350 casual employees.

St. Leonard is celebrating its 25th anniversary this year, and the 50th anniversary of the Bell Tower, a community landmark. The main building of the community is a former Franciscan seminary built for the Cincinnati province of St. John the Baptist in 1957 and consecrated in 1959.

Dedication of the new buildings is planned for 2010.

"This has been part of our master plan," Jones said. "We did a lot of footwork on this. We did a lot of surveys. We listened to our residents."