After an attempt to reopen as a residential care facility, the Island Nursing Home on Deer Isle has turned its sights toward conversion into affordable senior housing.
At a public meeting Tuesday, board members spoke about early efforts to raise money to reopen as a residential care facility. But in October, it announced that it was not able to meet the fundraising goal, and hire enough staff.
Skip Greenlaw is the board treasurer.
"This has not been an easy decision, and we are all disappointed that we were not able to find some solution that allows us to use INS as a nursing home or (residential care) facility," Greenlaw said.
Anyone who donated to the fundraising effort will have the option to get their money back, or leave it with the organization for maintenance costs.
Board members said Tuesday that the housing project is still in its early phases, but that a civil engineer has been hired to evaluate the grounds.
The board has met several times with Dave Pelton, an independent contractor who has worked on similar housing projects.
"So while there is not a lot of money right now going into nursing home care, which is unfortunate, there is quite a bit of money going into affordable housing," Pelton said.
Many area residents at the meeting were supportive of the idea, given the high demand for housing.
