Westminster celebrates grand opening

Westminster Communities of Florida officially extended its reach to the elderly in Baldwin Park on Wednesday, Sept. 6 as they celebrated the opening of its latest facility: Westminster Baldwin Park. 

The first phase of the active senior-living facility, located at 2687 Lake Baldwin Lane, comprises 80 dwelling units for seniors spread throughout three buildings, along with a 40-bed medical facility, a café and a pool area.

Future residents and staff looked on as Westminster leaders cut the ribbon on the new $45 million location, which is already at capacity.

“The Westminster Baldwin Park campus is only three blocks from our Westminster Winter Park Campus — we have looked at this property for years to possibly buy it,” Chief Executive Officer Roger Stevens said.  “We’re very excited — this phase sold out before we even moved a shovel of dirt. … There’s a high demand; we’re happy to serve the people.”

Founded in 1954, Westminster is a church-related, not-for-profit community organization committed to providing services to seniors through residential and health care communities. It traces back to a goal of preserving and honoring each person’s dignity, rights and independence.

“We are so excited today to be opening Westminster Baldwin Park, which will be operating as a neighborhood of Westminster Winter Park,” Executive Director Mike Haye said. “We have a strong foundation of over 50 years of service. The best organizations like ours put the residents first.”

Wednesday was a sign of further growth for Westminster, which already has locations in Bradenton, Jacksonville, St. Petersburg, Tallahassee and more.

Stevens said this newest location also helps the organization address an outdated medical center at the nearby Winter Park campus.

“We’re kind of landlocked on that campus, so we were looking for nearby land where we could build a new health center,” Stevens said. “We’re moving some beds over into (the new health center) so that we can go back and renovate our existing health center on the Westminster Winter Park campus to make it top-notch also. We’ll be able to do great things.”

Stevens said new residents will enjoy the organization’s focus on social interaction.

“The first thing is friends — you’re going to make a lot of wonderful new friends,” Stevens said. “The best thing about Westminster — on any of our campuses — are the residents. You’ll make friends, you’ll have choices. … We’ll keep you as well and independent as possible for as long as possible.”

Stevens said phase two, which will include three more buildings made up of roughly 80 dwelling units, will start construction in the spring and should be completed by fall 2019.