Every day, twice a day, Ada Curial crosses the plus-15 walkway between her home in Citadel Mews West to help feed her husband Gaston at the Citadel Care Centre. It wasn't the retirement either planned, but it's kept the couple together into their 80s.
"Things just fell into place, actually. It just came at the right time for us," Ada, 86, said last Wednesday during the grand opening of Citadel Village. About 700 people gathered for food, music and tours of the facility built on surplus hospital land in Erin Ridge.
Started in 2004, the mixed-use urban village includes 181 executive retirement suites in Citadel Mews East, 123 assisted-living units in Citadel Mews West, 128 long-term care beds at Citadel Care Centre, plus 12 retail spaces next to St. Albert Trail.
The Curials moved into Citadel Mews East shortly after Gaston was diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease. It was a four-month wait but the long-time St. Albert residents and retired teachers knew they could no longer live alone.
"We became aware that we would need more care sooner than later," Ada said.
When Gaston's condition required full-time care two-and-a-half years ago, he moved into the care centre while Ada moved into Citadel Mews West.
She calls the walkway joining the two facilities her "lifeline." It came in handy in May when friends and family celebrated Gaston's 80th birthday in the west wing.
"I go every day twice a day to help feed my husband. The staff has also become family. You get to know them, they get to know you."
Community roots
Citadel Village is the end result of a vision that started in the late 1990s after the former Capital Health Authority said it no longer needed 4.9 hectares of land next to the Sturgeon Community Hospital.
The four municipalities that owned the land — St. Albert, Sturgeon County, Morinville and Legal — sold the land to Christensen Developments and partner Citadel Care for $3.1 million in 2003. Citadel Care Centre, now operated by Qualicare Corporation, was the first to open in November 2005.
"It took so long we had to go through three mayors to get here," Mayor Nolan Crouse quipped at Wednesday's opening, crediting the work of the Richard Plain and Paul Chalifoux councils for shaping the site vision.
The resulting aging-in-place urban village concept has since won accolades from the Economic Developers Association of Alberta for economic development excellence.
"This was a community project from day one," said Greg Christenson, president of Christenson Developments. "There was a vision to look after seniors on site, there was a vision to have an urban village."
Like others who call Citadel Village home, Frieda Wolfram never expected to make use of that vision. But it became necessary when her husband Ewald became ill after suffering heart problems. Upkeep of their Edmonton adult living home became too much.
The move into the 1,200-sq.-ft. suite four years ago wasn't difficult. "We did a lot of moving, so the transition wasn't hard at all," Wolfram said. "I don't find it hard to talk to people nor did my husband, who was a bus driver and found it easy to talk."
The couple made new friends, a support system that proved vital after Ewald passed away from cancer two years ago. Wolfram is on a social committee that organizes potlucks, barbecues and entertainment.
"We made a lot of friends here. I'm glad I'm here — really glad."
Aging in place
The Curials also made friends, right from their start in Citadel Mews East. Some have passed on, while others have moved on, Ada said.
"A lot of the people that we were with in the east [wing] on my floor, there are only two left over there. The others are now here [in the west wing] because of health problems, they're in assisted living."
Though she lives independently, she says it's comforting to know she doesn't have to go far if she requires assistance.
"I'm the perfect example of what happens later in life. Things happen."
