Loretto expects new PACE CNY facility in DeWitt to open in June

DeWITT — Loretto plans to move PACE CNY’s Catherine McAuliffe Center to a new facility at 115 Creek Circle, across from the East Syracuse Fire Station No. 2, in June.

The 38,000-square-foot building sits on a 10-acre property that will include parking for 30 shuttle buses and 130 cars.

PACE CNY has operated in a 15,000-square-foot space on the first floor of Loretto’s main campus — on Brighton Avenue in Syracuse — since 2000. It has outgrown the space and needs to expand.

“We felt … really the only way we could continue to serve people and expand in our community is to build a new center,” says Penny Abulencia, senior vice president and director of PACE CNY at Loretto.

The Brighton Ave. space has been “cramped” for the last three to four years, she adds. The organization decided to pursue the new center in 2010.

Abulencia, and Kimberly Townsend, president and CEO of Loretto; Ellen O’Connor, CFO of Loretto; and Ruth Kirk, program director at PACE CNY, spoke with CNYBJ on March 2.

The current program at Loretto serves about 270 people, while the new building can accommodate and serve about 400 residents, Abulencia says.

About 80 employees will move to the new McAuliffe Center in DeWitt. 

PACE CNY is a nonprofit corporation that Loretto owns and sponsors, according to its website. The organization, a community-based, managed-care program, describes itself as an “alternative to nursing care that allows the frail elderly to continue to live in the community.” The acronym PACE is short for a program of all-inclusive care for the elderly.

Building the facility  

Construction on the new facility in DeWitt started in June 2014 and should finish in April, says Kirk. 

Loretto purchased the land from Peter Muserlian of the PEMCO Group in a transaction that closed last June, according to the Loretto officials involved. 

PEMCO Group is a Syracuse–based commercial real-estate firm.

O’Connor declined to disclose the project cost, but indicated the organization is using a loan from First Niagara Bank and the nonprofit’s own assets to finance and fund the project.

Parsons-McKenna Construction Co. of Salina is the contractor on the project. Peter Crissey, a principal in Crissey Architectural, PC of DeWitt, was the project designer. Rick Ruggaber, an employee with PEMCO Co., and PACE CNY’s Kirk assisted on the design process, says Kirk.

Parsons-McKenna’s James Schanzenback is serving as the project manager, working with Ruggaber and Kirk throughout the process, according to Kirk and O’Connor

Subcontractors included Bruce Electric of DeWitt, which handled the electrical work; Paragon Supply, Inc. completed the masonry work; Effect Group, Inc. of Syracuse provided the flooring; Gladd Security, Inc. of Salina installed the building security; and Finger Lakes Technology Group, Inc., handled the technology and telephone installation, according to Kirk.

When asked about the new center’s amenities, Kirk explained that the new center will include smaller activity rooms for arts and crafts, larger rooms for lunch and gatherings, heated flooring in the bathing area, and a larger salon area. 

“[PACE enrollees] are [also] going to have an outside patio area that they’ll be able to enjoy,” says Kirk.  

Once PACE CNY moves to the DeWitt location, Loretto will consider several possibilities for the available 15,000-square-foot space, including expanding its 

rehabilitation services, says Townsend, the Loretto CEO.

It’ll be part of Loretto’s strategic plan covering the years 2015 through 2018 as the organization reviews its entire campus “as a whole,” Townsend adds.                 

Contact Reinhardt at ereinhardt@cnybj.com