Warren and Sally Foster, married 65 years this month, will be among the first residents at Islebrook Village in Wiscasset.

Ten years after 146 Gardiner Road stopped being Wiscasset Primary School and four years after a senior living facility was proposed, the 105-unit community is looking to open the first or second week of November, after final state inspections, Executive Director Jenalee Hill told Wiscasset Newspaper.

"I really just cannot wait to throw those doors open and welcome everybody home," Hill said.

Earlier projections to open came and went, according to Wiscasset Newspaper files. The project, announced in fall 2021, got a planning board nod in September 2022.

About 35 people have been hired to work at Islebrook, “and that number will continue to grow,” Hill said. Thirty-five is on the mark with a 2021 projection. 

Hill said the delay in the facility's completion was largely due to the wait for subcontractors to finish different parts of the project. "I think it's par for the course in construction. There's a lot of sequencing that's involved, you need one trade to do their thing before another trade can get in to do their thing ... It's been a lot of (what) feels like air traffic control ... There's no one big thing I can blame it on, it's just a series of inconvenient things ... And we're finally nearing the end."

"There's been a lot of patience required on our part and the part of our depositors, who are of course anxiously waiting to move into their new home," Hill said in the Oct. 22 phone interview. "They've been wonderful, so patient with us. And we're so grateful for that patience."

Islebrook, too, has been wonderful during the wait, according to the Fosters' daughter Rebecca Foster in a phone interview Oct. 23. "They sent over some of the nurses, just to meet my parents and to answer questions and to make everybody feel comfortable, that it is going to open soon. It's been wonderful, reassuring." Between that and events Islebrook has held off-site, like one her mother went to at Taste of Maine restaurant in Woolwich, Foster said, "They really show, by words and actions, that they really care about the residents, even before they're residents."

The Augusta-area couple is "very excited" for the impending move-in and she is excited for them, their daughter said.

As for the delay in Islebrook's opening, Foster said her parents would have had a wait regardless, because other places had waiting lists. And she said Islebrook had everything they were looking for and more, including lots of chances to socialize.

She said the physiologist, gym, and occupational and physical therapy will be good for her father, who has Parkinson's. And there's a pool table, she said. "My dad loves to play pool."

Islebrook will be about 38% full to start, Hill said. Did the delay cost Islebrook any of its signups? "We've seen that, but to a very small extent. Unfortunately, some people have passed away, and we've had some who have moved into another community because they simply had an urgent need," she said. "I'm still very surprised at people's loyalty to us. I'm so moved by it ... They believe in us, and are hanging in there with us."

She noted "the one great part" of the delay. "We have had the chance to really build community with the people who gave us deposits. We’ve had events with them, and we’ve all gotten to know each other really well … so people will already have neighbors, which is a much better way to open.”

Foster said the one at Taste of Maine was fun for her mother, "because she started to meet people that she's going to be living with" at Islebrook.

Hill said the time before opening has also been used to build on staff training, such as hospice certification for certified nurse's assistants (CNA's) and dementia training. And staff have helped wherever needed at Islebrook, including "running around outside ... with magnets picking up all the construction scraps and trash. They're just a fantastic team."

Islebrook has held training at Wiscasset's Scout Hall, which Hill called a fantastic space. And other events have been done up the road from Islebrook at Wiscasset Community Center, including a vaccination clinic that had been planned to be at Islebrook. "We obviously weren't open in time and we didn't want to cancel it, because we want people to get their flu shots. So we ended up doing that at (WCC). It was a beautiful day ... and they were very good to have as an alternative." Islebrook has been paying when using town space, Hill confirmed. Other events Islebrook has offered have had educational topics, such as Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s. 

Still to come, besides the state inspections, was to get the freezers and refrigerators up and running so food could start to be delivered; a licensed plumber will “flip the switch” to fire up the boiler, Hill said. And a hood in the kitchenneeded some electrical and mechanical work, she said.