RUMFORD — The day after nearly 20 inches of snow fell, friends Cathy Lizotte and Larry Roderick ventured out to the open house at Rumford Senior Living.

The single Rumford residents, who are friends from the First Baptist Church of Mexico, were among those looking at the new apartments at 101 Hancock St. for people age 55 and older.

“I’ve already put my application in. I love this place,” Roderick said while visiting a second-floor apartment Jan. 27. He said his daughters asked him to move out of his home of six years because he’s developing early Alzheimer’s disease.

Lizotte said she lives next door to Rumford Senior Living, where she’s recently taken a couple of falls on the stairs from her third-floor apartment. “I’ve watched this place being built from the ground up,” she said about the new building.

The complex replaces three apartment buildings destroyed by fire in 2020.

Asked if she’s considering putting in an application for one of the apartments, Lizotte said, “Well, I’m looking at it. I wanted to see what it looked like on the inside. I like to look first and then make my decisions.”

Roderick and Lizotte said they like the services provided for tenants.

Lizotte noted that she loves the quality name on the appliances.

“You can’t beat it,” she said about the location. “The stores aren’t that far away.”

Property Manager Lisa Gund of Realty Resources Management said during the open house that the first-floor apartments have been taken.

“We’re moving people in right now. I think the first lease signing was on Jan. 12,” Gund said. “We have a waiting list, but we still have many (apartments) that are still open, so I don’t know where we are with the waiting list.”

“I think it’s a very nice building. They did a great job with it,” Gund added. “They did a lot of accommodating, things that you don’t normally find. The units are fairly the same but yet, very different.”

Resident amenities include a community room with kitchenette, laundry facilities, on-site management, and 30 on-site parking spaces, including accessible parking.

In preparation for more foot traffic as tenants move in, the town plans to place “slow, crosswalk ahead” signs before the crosswalk on the corner of Rumford Avenue and Hancock Street. Eventually, a sign with blinking lights will be placed there.

Developed in partnership with MaineHousing and local stakeholders, Rumford Senior Living aims to expand access to high-quality, affordable housing while supporting downtown Rumford’s ongoing revitalization. The building has four stories and a lower-level with one-bedroom apartments designed to support aging in place, with 16 fully accessible units and seven project-based vouchers reserved for tenants with disabilities.

Affordability is structured to serve households earning between 50% and 60% of area median income, with at least 60% of apartments reserved for households at or below 50% of median income.

Rumford Senior Living is also designed to complement the neighboring historic Strathglass Park District. The building overlooks the Androscoggin River and offers walkable access to downtown services, J. Eugene Boivin Park, and the Rumford Falls Trail.

Rumford Senior Living was made possible through collaboration with public and private partners, including MaineHousing, CREA LLC, NBT Bank, the town of Rumford, and the Maine Department of Economic & Community Development. The project team also includes Portland Builders Inc. as general contractor, Invivid Architecture as architect, and Gorrill Palmer as engineering consultant.

For rental information or questions about the open house, contact Realty Resources Management at: [email protected].