Life includes all ages and stages. What if there was a place that could integrate facilities in a way that would beneficially serve multiple ages together?
Such a new facility is being created in rural Kansas. Thanks to the Phillips County Review and writer Brennan Engle for much of the following information.
Cy Moyer was a retired banker, outstanding community leader, great gentleman, and a long-time board member of the Huck Boyd Foundation and the Dane G. Hansen Foundation in Phillips County.
He was also a personal friend of mine and a co-founder of the Huck Boyd Institute. Cy passed away on April 7, 2023 at age 88. Sixteen days before his passing, Cy’s last public official act was to participate in the groundbreaking of an innovative new project of which he had been a strong supporter.
The project is called Logan Intergenerational Family and Education Center, or LIFE Center. It’s to be located in the Phillips County community of Logan.
Logan school principal David Kirkendall was living near Greensburg when he saw that community devastated by the 2007 tornado. As he saw public facilities rebuilt – including the hospital, school and nursing home — he wondered if they could have been combined.
Years later he found himself in Logan, where the town was faced with aging community facilities. Kirkendall shared the idea of integrating new facilities together. Ultimately this innovative idea gained support from the Hansen Foundation.
People in Logan consulted on the design with K-State Center for Aging gerontologist Gayle Doll and a national organization called Generations United. Following a lot of work and planning from a lot of people, a groundbreaking for the LIFE Center took place on March 22, 2023.
The LIFE Center is believed to be the first of its kind anywhere to house a nursing home, preschool, grade school and community center in one facility. It will replace the old grade school and nursing home and be built at the north end of the existing Logan school.
The goal is to bring individuals of different life experiences together who can mutually benefit from their life histories and share new experiences.
The Hansen Foundation is providing the majority of financing for the $31 million project. An additional $1 million for fixtures, furniture and equipment is being raised through a fundraising effort coordinated by the Logan Community Development Foundation. Approximately $780,000 of that goal has been secured to date.
The facility will include an interconnected 36-bed nursing home, new pre-K through fourth grade elementary school, new gymnasium with associated locker room complex, weight room and wellness facility, and community room. It will also be located next to the existing ABC Daycare Center, whose activities can also be incorporated.
The nursing home is to be based on what is called the “small house” model, which calls for a more home-like, less institutional setting. The design involves three pods, each containing 12 private resident rooms with private bathrooms, an open design prep kitchen, and living room area. Meals will be prepared at the school lunchroom and delivered to each pod.
The new classrooms will open into a large common area called Scholastic Alley in which intergenerational projects can be implemented. Imagine the possibilities.
“As my plant and soil science class grows plants and makes flower arrangements, they’ll be able to take them down to the residents,” Kirkendall said. “Our foods class could do birthday cakes for the residents when it’s their birthday.”
There is even a shared open air playground area, complete with a wheelchair-equipped swing.
This innovative project has been described as a “crown jewel for Phillips County.” It’s impressive to find in a rural community such as Logan, population 460 people. Now, that’s rural.
There are multiple ages and stages of life. How exciting to find these brought together in a fittingly named LIFE Center.
We commend David Kirkendall, the Hansen Foundation, and all those who are making a difference with this innovative project. It is also a fitting tribute to the late Cy Moyer, who supported it so strongly.
I’m glad they are bringing this project to life.
