Stan Kappers, executive director of the Mount Pleasant Retirement Village in Monroe, said residents will be returning this month to the South Wing of Mount Pleasant Place, a three-story independent living facility at 210 Britton Lane. He said they have been living in other parts of the campus or at other facilities in their network of communities.
However, the North Wing, was where much of the damage happened after the Aug. 13 fire that resulted from lightning strikes. The lightning strikes put a hole in the roof “that was large enough for a VW bug,” Kappers said.
It will take about a year to rebuild the North Wing, according to Kappers.
Ed Beck, director of environmental services, said the center core of the building where administrative offices and the lobby are located sustained a lot of damage from water and moisture as there was no roof after the fire. He said crews are gutting the North Wing and the center core as well as testing the electric and HVAC in the building. A temporary roof now covers the North Wing, he said.
“(The residents’) perseverance was admirable and their sense of family and commitment is very strong,” Kappers said about those who were displaced.
Mount Pleasant is also planning a ceremony and celebration in November for all the first responders who battled the fire as well as for the staff who helped get residents out of the building.
Staff as well as nearby neighbors helped to evacuate the building. It took firefighters from 14 area departments about three hours to put the fire out. The Monroe Fire Department reported damages at $2.75 million.
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