County delegates put brakes on $150M nursing home bond, OK $6M for design work

An expansive courtyard from the original proposal. *Courtesy image(

DOVER − The Strafford County delegation blocked the construction of a new nursing home over concerns that county officials had not put forward any concrete plans as to how the $150 million asked for in the bonding would be spent.
State rep Cliff Newton said on Friday that other than a slick video put together by a design firm, the delegation had no idea of what the estimated cost would be and what would be the exact features of the home.
To that end the legislation approved around $6 million for design work that will be done by Concord-based architectural firm Warrenstreet, which will provide more detail over the next two years.
The vote for the $150 million bond ended in a 16-16 tie, far short of the two-thirds needed to push it through.
The proposed 215-bed nursing home would replace Riverside Rest Home, which was built in the 1970s.

Newton said today the vote to OK the $6.2 million for design work passed 22-10.

He said he voted against it because county commissioners pushed the vote just prior to the end of the meeting.

"It was out of the blue, I wanted to think about it," he said.

Newton also wanted to wait to vote on it, because the new delegation is seated on Wednesday.