Ground was broken Sept. 4 on a unique 19-unit Alzheimer’s and memory care facility.

The facility will be an addition to the Normandy Park Senior Living Community, 16625 1st Ave. S. The current facility provides assisted living services to older adults in the Normandy Park and Burien area.

Attending the ground-breaking ceremony were Normandy Park Mayor Clarke Brant, state rep. Tina Orwall, state Rep. Dave Upthegrove, Southwest King County Chamber president Lynn Wallace and Artegan COO Warren Page.

Artegan manages the location along with eight other adult services communities in Washington and Oregon. It is based in Vancouver WA.

Page said the new Alzheimer’s facility will be opened by next September. Construction is set to start immediately.

He noted there will be 19 private or semi-private apartment homes in the new facility. It will be connected to the existing Normandy Park Senior Living by a skybridge.

Specially trained staff will provide specific “boutique” services, Page noted.

The interior is designed to encompass the outdoors by providing abundant natural light and nature.

The overall goal for the design and programming of services is to deinstitutionalize the approach to memory care and to focus on the resident and the family for their individualized needs, according to Page.

He added that nearly 85 people in the past year have needed memory care services that could not be provided at the current facility.

Page gave additional information on Alzheimer’s disease.

He noted that 10,000 people in the baby boomer generation will reach 65 years of age each year for the next 18 years. One in eight adults over 65 will have Alzheimer’s. One in four adults 85 and over has the disease.

It is the sixth leading cause of death in the country. Alzheimer’s disease diagnosis is in the top 10 diagnostic statistics that has no real cure or curative treatment.

One in 7 people living with Alzheimer’s lives alone.