Phase One of Vilas Home Expansion Complete

PLATTSBURGH — Phase one of the historic 1888 Samuel F. Vilas Home expansion is now complete and will soon be providing residents access to a wider range of personalized care services and modern amenities.

“It’s a real honor to be the person who is behind this addition and pushing the legacy of the Vilas Home forward. This is a very special building,” Owner Eli Schwartzberg said at the ribbon cutting ceremony Monday.

“It’s a landmark in the City of Plattsburgh. Generations of people have enjoyed this over the last 136 years. I’m just a small blip on the radar of this great home and I feel honored to be the shepherd.”

EXPANSION PROJECT

Eli and his wife, Emily Schwartzberg, purchased the historic adult home, located on the corner of Cornelia and Beekman Streets in Plattsburgh, from its not-for-profit board in 2019 with a plan to modernize and expand the offerings so that the Vilas Home could be competitive in the marketplace for today’s seniors.

To make that plan come to fruition, a two-phase expansion project for the home kicked off in the fall of 2020.

Now, four years later, the phase one end result is a newly constructed three-story residence — attached to the 1888 historic building — with 70 fully furnished assisted living rooms, including spacious studios with kitchenettes; all of which feature private bathrooms with walk-in showers, an emergency call bell system and in-room personal heat and A/C units.

“I’d love to take credit for all this, but this project and this building is bigger than any one person, and the people who really deserve all the credit here — I mean this from the bottom of my heart — are the people that work here every day: now and for the last 136 years,” Eli Schwartzberg said.

“One of the most proud things that Emily and I have in buying this home four years ago is that we still have employees that have worked here for over 25 years, who have survived the change of ownership, and now, we’re moving into a new building with some of those staff. People who know anything about care, a building is beautiful, but it’s only a beautiful building. People are here and people’s parents or grandparents are here, and they trust us and Emily and I take that responsibility very seriously … we really care.”

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