Morning Pointe Senior Living will break ground at its newest senior living campus and second property in Georgia – Morning Pointe at Happy Valley - on Tuesday, Oct. 18, at 10:30 a.m.
The event will take place at the property at 2989 Happy Valley Road in Walker County, next to Ridgeland High School, and the school will be highly involved in the ceremonies. The Ridgeland High School Choir will provide the opening and closing songs, the JROTC will lead out in a flag ceremony and pledge of allegiance and Karen Hughes, principal, will be one of the speakers.
Morning Pointe Senior Living co-founders Greg A. Vital (president of the company) and Franklin Farrow (CEO), will share their vision for the new assisted living and memory care campus. Several community partners will speak as well, including Shannon Whitfield, Walker County Commission chair; Rossville Mayor Teddy Harris; Jennifer Martin, president of the Walker County Chamber of Commerce; and Dan Phillips, development director for the North Georgia area for the Alzheimer’s Association.
The groundbreaking will also include special music by 2004 thumb style guitar champion Wesley Crider and breakfast hors d’oeuvres catered by Farm to Fork.
The new senior campus is part of an overall redevelopment of the historic 300-acre Happy Valley Farms between Ridgeland High School and Rossville Middle School.
The farm and estate were established in 1935 by John L. Hutcheson, Jr., and were the site of an award winning Jersey cattle and dairy farm before Hutcheson transitioned the property into a world-class American Saddlebred horse-breeding facility. Upon the death of Marion “Bit” Hutcheson, Greg A. Vital, co-founder and president of Morning Pointe Senior Living, took an interest in the property’s unique legacy and acquired it from the heirs. The Morning Pointe campus is planned in the southeast portion of the property across from the Happy Valley Legacy Barn.
The single-story Happy Valley assisted living campus will be 67,000 square feet and will feature 82 spacious apartments of country farm architecture. These encompass 58 assisted living apartments and 24 memory care apartments specially designed for residents with Alzheimer’s disease and other forms of memory loss. Decorations in the building will celebrate the history of Walker County, as well as the Happy Valley Farm and its legacy. Construction costs are estimated at $14,000,000.
Programming will adhere to Morning Pointe’s strong focus on clinical care with physical and occupational therapies, life enrichment and wellness offerings and intergenerational activities.
The Lantern memory care wing will provide an array of Alzheimer’s and dementia care services, including innovative therapies such as Teepa Snow’s Positive Approach to Care, Best Friends Approach and Morning Pointe’s own Meaningful Day – a purposeful memory care program providing structure to help residents feel safe and secure, said officials.
The campus will also feature Morning Pointe’s Farm to Table program with local, farm-fresh and seasonal ingredients.
“As part of our Chattanooga-area presence, we are excited about serving so many in North Georgia who have connections to the Hutcheson family and Happy Valley Farms,” said Mr. Vital. “Happy Valley is one of the most beautiful locations with a rich history and legacy, and we will soon become a thriving community of residents, associates and families who will call Morning Pointe home. We are so pleased to add Happy Valley to our Morning Pointe family.”
In the greater Chattanooga area, Morning Pointe operates assisted living and memory care communities in Chattanooga, Collegedale, Ooltewah, Hixson and Athens.