New assisted living facility to be built in Bethel

A Westport-based assisted living services provider will develop a new 84-unit facility in Bethel, with construction scheduled to begin this summer and completion slated for the late summer of 2014.

Maplewood Senior Living L.L.C., which has other facilities in Danbury, Darien, East Norwalk, Newtown and Orange, will built the new facility on a six-acre parcel at 46 Stony Hill Road that it acquired in late December 2012.

The project, which has been dubbed Maplewood at Stony Hill, will be designed by Perkins Eastman, a Stamford architecture firm, and will also house a family and community Alzheimer’s and Dementia Education and Learning Center. The learning center will be staffed by in-house experts, physicians and support professionals.

The assisted living facility will place a special emphasis on residents with memory loss, Maplewood said, and will include staff who are specially trained in techniques to communicate with those experiencing memory loss.

Maplewood says the three-story building will utilize “green design” techniques both in the construction and operating phases.

“We’re thrilled to be building in Bethel and appreciate the town’s assistance in making this project a reality,” said Gregory D. Smith, Maplewood chairman and CEO, in a prepared statement. “We’re excited about adding new jobs to the local economy, as well as providing much needed programs and services to the area’s seniors and their families.”