Hannah-Grace Mann, COM 250 reporter

Bailey Albertson, COM 303 editor

MOUNT BERRY, Ga. – More than 75 percent of units received deposits, equating to 129 total units reserved, by the time Berry College broke ground for The Spires at Berry College retirement community on Oct. 19, 2018.

This started a one-year building process that will be completed in 2020. The retirement living facility will provide homes for up to 300 people according to Morgan Lamphere, vice president of marketing for The Spires at Berry College.

The Spires is a Continuing Care Retirement Community (CCRC), which means that residents move into the apartments or cottages when they are healthy and independent, and will receive additional care if their health should change, according to Lamphere.

As a CCRC, services beyond those of a typical retirement home will be provided, such as on-site health care including assisted living, nursing care and more. These services will be accessible at a discounted rate for the residents of The Spires, as opposed to an ownership or rental community that would not usually provide these services, according to The Spires website.

The Berry College Board of Trustees wanted to build a community for Berry alumni, which sparked the idea for The Spires to be located on the college’s campus, according to Lamphere.

“It’s been a very thoughtful process to decide if this would be a good fit for our campus,” said Chris Reinolds Kozelle, director of public relations at Berry. Studies were conducted in the Rome and Berry communities, and the idea for The Spires received positive feedback from members of the Rome community and faculty and students at Berry.

Because The Spires will be located on Berry College’s campus, residents will have opportunities to participate in many activities the college offers. Residents will be able to take classes and attend concerts and sporting events hosted on campus.

“The learning environment at Berry will provide residents with opportunities they wouldn’t find elsewhere,” said Gabrielle Costello, representative of LevLane Public Relations.

Berry students will also have the opportunity to be a part of The Spires community. More than 50 student jobs will be created, including opportunities for work in food service, hospitality, finance management, security and more, according to Lamphere.

Although construction is still in the early stages, meetings are scheduled to take place soon to plan for how Berry’s students and campus will impact and be impacted by The Spires, respectively, according to Mike Burnes, director of student work at Berry.

As the building process of The Spires begins, many hiring decisions still have to be made, including that of naming an operational manager, according to Costello.