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Sunday, November 15, 2026Nov 15

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New memory care center part of over $50 million campus in Hamilton County

Staff photo by Matt Hamilton / From left, Betty Grable of Builtwell Bank; Hamilton County Trustee Bill Hullander; Hamilton County Commission Chair Jeff Eversole; Franklin Farrow, co-founder and CEO of Morning Pointe Senior Living; Commissioner Lee Helton; Amy French of the Alzheimer's Association; state Rep. Greg Vital; County Mayor Weston Wamp; Chattanooga Area Chamber of Commerce CEO Charles Wood; Shelter Church Pastor Sterling Jetton; state Rep. Esther Helton; and Circuit Court Clerk Larry Henry participate in the groundbreaking ceremony for the Lantern at Morning Pointe Alzheimer's Center of Excellence on Friday.
Staff photo by Matt Hamilton / From left, Betty Grable of Builtwell Bank; Hamilton County Trustee Bill Hullander; Hamilton County Commission Chair Jeff Eversole; Franklin Farrow, co-founder and CEO of Morning Pointe Senior Living; Commissioner Lee Helton; Amy French of the Alzheimer's Association; state Rep. Greg Vital; County Mayor Weston Wamp; Chattanooga Area Chamber of Commerce CEO Charles Wood; Shelter Church Pastor Sterling Jetton; state Rep. Esther Helton; and Circuit Court Clerk Larry Henry participate in the groundbreaking ceremony for the Lantern at Morning Pointe Alzheimer's Center of Excellence on Friday.

Work started Friday on a new memory care center in Ooltewah as a local company sees the facility as part of a more than $50 million campus aimed at seniors.

The idea for the campus emerged after eyeing growth in East Hamilton County a half dozen years ago, said Greg Vital, co-founder and president of Morning Pointe Senior Living.

“We said, ‘We have to serve that area,'” Vital said at the groundbreaking for the $15 million, 60-apartment Morning Pointe Alzheimer’s Center of Excellence at East Hamilton.

(READ MORE: Morning Pointe expanding in Ooltewah)

The new 45,000-square-foot center, slated for completion in about a year, will sit adjacent to the existing 73-apartment Morning Pointe of East Hamilton location for seniors. That facility was built in 2019 and will transition to an assisted living-only community once the new memory care center is erected, according to the company.