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Agrace delaying plan for new service center

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New Agrace HospiceCare Service Center that will be built in Janesville.

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Jayme Roth

JANESVILLE — Groundbreaking for a new Agrace HospiceCare service center has been delayed for six months until the organization can raise $3 million, half the needed total.

Since October, Agrace has raised about $1.1 million toward its $6 million capital campaign goal to build a new Rock County Community Service Center at 3301 Sandhill Drive.

"We're very pleased at where we are," said Jayme Roth, development manager/general manager of Hospice Care-Rock County.

When the capital campaign was announced in October 2011, the plan was to raise $5.5 million and have half of the needed money before breaking ground by spring 2012.

"We have extended the campaign timeline by about six months to allow us to continue to raise funds," Roth said.

"We need 50 percent of our goal to be pledged before we can break ground," she said.

The new plan is to break ground this fall.

The target total has been increased $500,000 to cover higher financing costs caused by the extended timeline and the possibility of a lower-than-expected sale price of the Agrace building on West Memorial Drive, Roth said.

The Memorial Drive building is not yet listed as for sale.

"Our goal is to try to time the building sale so we could move directly from our current building into the new service center," said Liz Kopling, Agrace HospiceCare public affairs manager.

"However, if there were an interested party now, we would be happy to work with them," she said.

Agrace will start marketing the Memorial Drive building in August or September, about 12 months ahead of the anticipated move.

"We have Realtors on our building committee that are assisting us with this process," Kopling said.

The capital campaign will continue in its "quiet phase" of one-on-one and face-to-face conversations with individuals and businesses. It will move into the public phase after pledges and gifts approach $2 million, Roth said.

The capital campaign committee of more than a dozen volunteers is led by Mitzi Axtell, honorary chairwoman, Roth said.

Mitzi's husband, Roger, died earlier this year, but she will continue with the effort because she and Roger agreed the new service center is important, Roth said.

J.P. Cullen & Sons is general contractor and Angus Young Architects is project architect for the 17,000-square-foot building.

The center will house coordination of care, volunteer training, grief support programming and quilt and weaving dedications.

"It's truly community space for people to come to us, and we can also gather to provide the care out in our community," Roth said.

"This campaign is part of Agrace's commitment to strategically grow our capacity to serve our community and in a sustainable way," Roth said.

"This new service center puts a face on help for people."