A Chesterfield, Mo.-based company is going to build a new assisted-living facility in Scott City that will employ 20 people when it opens, with future expansion planned.

The new facility will be at the southern edge of the Scott City limits on U.S. 61 near Kelso, where a construction site is already being prepared.

Arbor Health Care president John Sells said the company has explored the possibility of building a facility in the area for the past 10 years.

"We've always been interested in doing something in that area," said Sells, who was born in Sikeston, Mo., and lived there most of his life. The Scott City/Kelso area was an attractive market for an assisted-living facility because of the high number of people over age 50 living there. Sells said the percentage of those over 50 is higher in the Scott City/Kelso area than in any other place Arbor has researched.

Sells said seniors in Scott City and Kelso exploring assisted living currently have to leave their hometowns and relocate to Cape Girardeau or elsewhere. Arbor's new facility will allow them to stay in more familiar surroundings, Sells said.

"Given the demographics of the area, there's no reason they shouldn't have their own facility," Sells said.

Arbor operates facilities in Puryear, Tenn., Clinton and Smithland, Ky., and Festus and Matthews, Mo., with other facilities being built or planned in Henry County, Tenn., Dexter, Mo., and Decatur, Ill. The Matthews facility was the company's first, founded by Clara Sells in 1938.

The assisted-living center will be called Ramsey Creek Village, a name that came from a high school essay contest, John Sells said. It will start out with 24 assisted-living rooms, with expansion in phases that will create 36 villas where seniors can live independently but still have some services provided. Arbor also plans to include an outpatient rehabilitation facility as part of Ramsey Creek Village.

Scott City administrator Ron Eskew said the biggest benefit the city will see from Ramsey Creek Village will be the creation of skilled jobs. Eskew hopes the nurses and physical therapists who will staff the facility will purchase or build homes in Scott City.

Eskew said he's worked closely with Sells in bringing Arbor to Scott City and from his experience he thinks the company will be a "good neighbor" for the area.

Sells said Arbor will set up a community advisory board to get input from Scott City and Kelso residents about how best to provide services and meet the community's needs.

Before construction can begin the property needs to be rezoned from agricultural to residential. Public meetings before the city's planning and zoning board and the city council will be held in July.

Barring any delays, Sells said, Ramsey Creek Village should open in January.

msanders@semissourian.com

335-6611, extension 182