WAPAKONETA — The former Auglaize Acres nursing home now has a new name: The Acres of Wapakoneta.
A ribbon-cutting ceremony, in the rain on Sunday, made it official.
“The Acres of Wapakoneta calls back to the old name and the history of the building but it is a delineation mark that, hey this is a new company. This is a new future and this is a new direction that we’re moving in. We want to make sure the community knows we’re here to stay,” said Matthew Smith, original administrator of the facility.
Alternative Living Solutions Inc., based out of Coolville, Ohio, purchased the former Auglaize County nursing home back in December 2018 after Auglaize County Commissioners decided to privatize the facility.
For the past nine months, the new company has continued to provide services to the residents.
“It was a pretty easy transition, just picking up from where they left off. They were doing a great job,” said Paul Cook, current administrator of The Acres of Wapakoneta.
In addition to continuing the nursing home, the new owners are looking for other uses for empty spaces.
“We’re opening an innovation center on the second floor,” said Smith. “We have a couple of county organizations — WOCAP and then some of Job and Family Services are already up there. We’re going to expand that service. We have a lot of space up there that we’re looking to find entrepreneurs to come in and take up shop. We’ll have common conference centers.”
The second floor of the facility is undergoing a facelift to accommodate the influx of businesses they’re expecting to locate there.
There are currently 18 office spaces available and that could grow depending on the need.
“The Innovate @ the Acres is an innovation incubation center,” said Scottie Powell, chief experience officer for Alternative Living Solutions. “The idea is that entrepreneurs have a more controlled cost-effective means to come into a space, have an office where they can meet clients versus starting out of their home but then also have access to big conference space, little conference space, brainstorming space and then also it’s a place to network with other new and emerging entrepreneurs. Our hope is they actually outgrow this space and then contribute to the larger community.”
