Frank's dream: Lookout Mountain assisted living facility finally breaking ground

THE BUSINESS OF BOOMERSThe baby boom: People born in the post-World War II era between mid-1946 and mid-1964 are considered Baby Boomers76 million: Baby Boomers in the U.S. in 2011, including foreign-born citizens.60 million: Expected number of Boomers in the U.S. when 2030 arrives. Boomers will be between 66- and 84-years-old then.2.4 million: Expected number of Boomers in the U.S. when 2060 arrives. Boomers will be at least 96-years-old then.COVENANT CONNECTIONFrank Brock served as president of Covenant College for 16 years. He oversaw growth of the campus, and has a building named in his honor on campus, as well as a garden named in his wife, Dottie's, honor.Brock says Covenant "is an important neighbor" for Brow Wood, because it will offer residents resources like the library, courses, theatre productions and athletic events and facilites.Covenant was also instrumental in Brow Wood's tying into the sewer system, as the community was able to tap the college's lines.

A crisp wind ran through the crowd Thursday at the groundbreaking for the Village at Brow Wood, a 48-unit, $10 million assisted living facility on top of Lookout Mountain, just inside the northern boundary of Dade County.

The breeze crackled through the wireless microphone as Frank Brock said his piece.

This has been a long time coming, he said. And it's been a lot of work. And there was a laundry list of people to thank.

He talked about how when he was president at Covenant College, the idea for an active senior adult living community came to mind and how the pieces began falling.

He talked about how the original plan, called Chapelbrow, whiffed.

But how the group behind Brow Wood never gave up, even when "we realized it was going to take some money."

And the crowd laughed.

But it's a true story.

"We had to come up with $2 million in lot sales, and it was nothing but trees," Brock said.

And that's kind of what this project was for a long time: Brock's dream.

Now, it's Brock's reality, flawless blue sky and cool, autumn breeze and all.

Several buyers were willing to put down a portion of their purchase early to help finance the construction of Brow Wood. And the development began taking shape.

Earlier in the week, Brock talked on the phone about the Brow Wood planned community development, part single-family housing on the west side of Scenic Highway and part assisted living and smaller individual homes on the east.

It all sits on 160 acres of land Brock said the development was lucky to get. Only 40 acres will be developed. The land once belonged to the Wheland family and is thought by some to have at one point been part of a coal mining operation.

"A lot of people had tried to buy it over the years," Brock said.

But like so many other times in the process, Brock was handed an opportunity because the Whelands believed in his vision. Because others saw the tragic irony that you could be born on Lookout Mountain, live here all your life but be forced to spend your final years some place else.

Just like the estate of the late Jane Harris, a lifelong Lookout Mountain resident, whose early financial gift was monumental in making the first phase of the project possible.

And the late Kathrina "Kitty" Maclellan, who "knew how badly people wanted an assisted living facility" on Lookout Mountain, also contributed to the project, said Brock.

Others in the close-knit, tiny towns of Lookout Mountain, Ga. and Lookout Mountain, Tenn., agree.

"I think it's a good idea, because a lot of people don't want to leave the mountain," said Sue Carter, a second-generation resident of Lookout Mountain.

"But they don't have a choice sometimes," Carter added.

Carter, between helping customers at Fairyland Pharmacy, named the nearest assisted living facilities: the one in Fort Oglethorpe, the one at the foot of Signal Mountain and the one on Sand Mountain.

And going off the mountain is a 15- or 20-minute trip. Carter only makes it a couple of times a week.

But making a visit to someone at Brow Wood, "you could swing by there no problem," Carter said.

At Thursday's groundbreaking, the founder of Village at Brow Wood's operator, Thrive Senior Living, said Village will also be about more than sheer convenience.

Thrive is based in Atlanta and has 13 locations across the Southeast. Jeramy Ragsdale is a self-described "recovering developer" who backed into the assisted living business after visiting an assisted living facility years ago and vowing to do better.

"I was just appalled by what assisted living and senior living like as a whole," he said Thursday. "It's not an attractive place."

photo The sign for Brow Wood is decorated Thursday with balloons for a groundbreaking ceremony in Lookout Mountain, Ga.

Some in the crowd mumbled in agreement.

"It's not a place you want to go," Ragsdale continued. "It's a place you have to go. You see [a resident's] life reduced down to this hotel-sized unit, and that's a tragedy."

Ragsdale talked about the 30 to 40 staffers that Village will hire and how they'll carry Android software-based tools to keep up residents' paperwork and medicine and info, as digital and paperless as possible.

"We've got a really neat set of innovative tools we use in our facilities, and we can't wait to introduce them to you here," he said.

Village at Brow Wood is expected to open in about a year. In addition to its 48 assisted living units, the Village facility will also feature four smaller, stand-alone living units, or cottages as Ragsland called them. Lots are also still available for 25 single-family homes on the brow side of Brow Wood and there are plans for 10 town homes not yet built.

Bob Ashlock, a retired Covenant College professor, is planning to move into one of the smaller, stand-alone units next to the assisted living faclity with his wife when the homes are finished.

The Ashlocks moved to Lookout Mountain in 1988 so Bob could take a Covenant job. He said Thursday the couple just needs to downsize. The yard's too much, and the house is just too big anymore.

But the Ashlocks don't want to leave the mountain. They've grown too close to the community and their friends.

"And yet, I can be downtown from my home in 15 to 20 minutes," said Bob. "You have all the culture and art of Chattanooga, as well as the close-knit community he have here on Lookout Mountain."

Brock said after Thursday's formalities that he's happy about the reception Brow Wood is receiving. But now that it's here, folks eyeing retirement need to start considering their options.

"I'm 72, and the primary people who ought to be coming here are 50-, 60-year-old people," he said.

Contact staff writer Alex Green at agreen@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6480.

Updated at 11:42 a.m. to insert Jeramy Ragsdale's first name.

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