Sterling elderly care complex ‘on track’  

Barbadians could see a major transformation in the community care of older people, children and people with disabilities later this year, as the new Sterling Residential and Respite Facility for the Elderly in St Philip moves toward completion, according to Minister of People Empowerment and Elder Affairs, Kirk Humphrey.

Providing an update on the project, Humphrey said renovation work on the main building was well advanced and expected to be completed within weeks, after which construction of the residential units would begin.

The Sterling facility is a partnership of the Ministry of People Empowerment, the National Assistance Board, the Barbados Alzheimer’s Association and Soroptimist International of Barbados. It is intended to provide residential and day care services for seniors, including those living with dementia and Alzheimer’s disease, through a community-style model. 

“We are currently renovating the main building that we would use for the older persons, that’s the older person component,” he told Barbados TODAY in an interview. “By the end of this month we’re going to be advertising for persons to come and do the work for the additional works, the road works and the construction of the actual residences.”

All drawings for the next phase had already been completed and submitted, clearing the way for tendering, he added.

“Those drawings are finished, the submission has already been made, so by the end of the month we’ll be tendering for people to come and do that work and then we’re going to, after we construct the residences, in the third phase we’ll be constructing the facilities for our children because we want to do a day nursery there as well,” Humphrey said, adding that the Sterling complex would ultimately serve multiple groups.

“Sterling will have facilities for persons with disabilities, facilities for the elderly and facilities for the children.”

The overall cost of the project is expected to range between $10m and $12m, reflecting both the renovation of the existing heritage structure and the construction of new housing units, the minister said.

“We anticipate in total, the cost of Sterling, the renovations to the building would be about $2m to renovate the existing building because we have to do the roof. We didn’t change the building because it’s a heritage site,” he said.

“The associated works we anticipate that will be at least an additional $8 to $10 million to build housing,” he said, noting the high cost of residential construction. “You can appreciate that a house is at least $150 000, then to even build ten of those you’re already well over $1m.”

The first phase would see the construction of between 20 and 30 residences, followed by facilities for children, Humphrey said. 

“We expect that the main building will be finished within the next two months and the construction of the buildings should be finished within the first six or seven months of this year,” he said.

The main building is expected to accommodate about 30 people, but Humphrey stressed that the design philosophy deliberately avoids large institutional settings.

“The thing about the new way you build in the social services is that the idea of building large structures for large amounts of people, that’s an old idea, nobody does that anymore,” he said. “I think everybody has recognised that that comes with a lot of flaws. So we build small facilities to house smaller people.”

The development consists of clusters of residences designed to foster a sense of community. “The main building will house about 20 or 30 people and then we’re going to build 20 residences on one side, another 20 residences on one side,” Humphrey said. “We have them built almost like circular pods so that the older people will be able to have a community.

“This is not meant to be a sick place, this is for people to come and have community and so on.”

The Sterling complex is expected to include between 60 and 70 residences, facilities for children, services for people with disabilities and shared social spaces. “I am very pleased with the progress of the work,” he said.

He explained that some delays last year were intentional, as the designs were revisited to ensure inclusivity and accessibility. 

“We paused for many months last year because I was of the view that the facilities, if we’re going to have one shot at this, and that they must have been built with persons with disabilities and all disabilities,” he said, outlining adjustments for physical, sensory and visual impairments, as well as expanded green and social spaces. “So we went back and we fixed the drawings in a way to make sure that it’s not just a place where you send people to live or today but you send people to be able to have community and have friendships and build relationships.”

Access to the facility would eventually be guided by the principle of “caring in place”, he said, with a focus on serving people close to where they live, while also strengthening support for families caring for elderly or disabled relatives at home.

The government plans to replicate the Sterling model across the island, with similar facilities already in the planning stages for St Thomas and St George. The administration broke ground on the Sterling site last September.