Future Clubhouse at Lakewood Retirement Community in Richmond, VA

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Lakewood to begin community center demolition Feb. 9

January 31, 2018

By Ann Lovell

Lakewood’s current community center, seen to the right in this aerial view, will be demolished Feb. 9 to make way for a $64-million expansion to the campus.

RICHMOND, Virginia—Lakewood, a LifeSpire of Virginia continuing care retirement community in Richmond’s west end, will begin demolishing its community center Feb. 9 to make way for a $64-million expansion to its campus.

To mark the beginning of the demolition, the retirement community will host a remembrance and celebration service for residents and guests at 3 p.m. Feb. 9 in the community’s Simms Center.

Lakewood Executive Director Barrett Way recognizes the importance of the community center to many Lakewood residents and wants to mark the occasion appropriately — honoring the past while also looking forward to the future.

“We want to remember what happened in this building,” Way said. “We have a lot of residents, resident families and past residents who have the experience of being in this building … and we want to remember and appreciate those memories.”

Lakewood’s expansion includes a state-of-the-art four-story clubhouse, pictured in this architectural rendering, with 44 apartments on the upper floors, underground parking and an indoor pool and fitness center.

The community center, which opened July 20, 1978, once housed the community’s health care center. It will be replaced by a state-of-the-art four-story clubhouse with 44 apartments on the upper floors. The new clubhouse will also provide underground parking and offer views of a new lake with walking paths, gardens, fire pits and a waterfall feature, Way said. In addition the expansion will include two mansion-style buildings with 10 homes in each.

“On Feb. 9 we’ll have a celebration of knocking the building down, but also a time to remember the individuals who called this building home. We want to remember the memories that took place in this space, but also celebrate the future as we welcome a brand new state-of-the-art campus,” Way said.

 

Ann Lovell is corporate director of communications for LifeSpire of Virginia. For more information, she may be contacted at [email protected] or by phone at (804) 521-9192.

LifeSpire of Virginia manages four continuing care retirement communities across Virginia: The Glebe in Daleville, The Culpeper in Culpeper, The Chesapeake in Newport News, and Lakewood in Richmond.