Residents move into senior center on the site of the former Tess Corners Elementary School

Jim Riccioli, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
·2 min read
Stair Crest senior living community in Muskego has begun welcoming its first residents. The complex was built on the redeveloped site of the former Tess Corners Elementary School, which closed in 2018.
Stair Crest senior living community in Muskego has begun welcoming its first residents. The complex was built on the redeveloped site of the former Tess Corners Elementary School, which closed in 2018.

MUSKEGO - Five years after the last of Tess Corners Elementary School's students and parents waved goodbye, the first of Stair Crest senior living community's residents said "hello" to their new homes on the redeveloped campus.

Presbyterian Homes & Services, which says it's the nation’s fourth largest nonprofit senior living community provider, announced the official opening of the senior center, S67 W14765 Janesville Road. The Muskego complex will eventually include occupants of 80 independent living apartments, 20 assisted-living apartments and 20 memory-care apartments amid amenities aimed at older residents.

On May 16, the first 10 residents were welcomed to the complex, which carries modern revival architecture with a promenade entrance that opens into a two-story foyer overlooking a landscaped outdoor terrace, gazebo and large pond.

The facility also includes a three-level "town center" featuring a movie theater, dining area, fitness center and a library. More-active residents can also use the campus' outdoor putting green and bocce ball court.

"We are excited to welcome our new guests to this gorgeous community," Janet Krahn, Stair Crest campus administrator, said in a news release. "Even more, we are excited to have them experience the many social, emotional, physical and inspirational benefits that come from enjoying the freedom to live well at Stair Crest."

Presbyterian Homes & Services — which also owns and operates Avalon Square in Waukesha, Dickson Hollow in Menomonee Falls, Fairway Knoll in Germantown, Kirkland Crossings in Pewaukee and Towner Crest in Oconomowoc — said the new Muskego facility cements its place in the Milwaukee metro area as a provider of "good health, vitality and well-being for seniors."

"We’re delighted to add Stair Crest to the expanding ministry of Presbyterian Homes & Services in eastern Wisconsin," Jon Fletcher, senior vice president of the nonprofit's development arm Senior Housing Partners, said in the release. "As our senior population grows, the need for additional senior living communities and services also grows, so this new campus is greatly needed."

Redeveloping the 9.2-acre parcel, on the southeast corner of Janesville Road and Durham Place, took some time as Muskego city officials worked through the details of a redevelopment proposal in 2019, when the Muskego-Norway School Board sold the school property for $725,000 to Presbyterian Homes of Wisconsin Inc.

Tess Corners and Muskego Elementary School were both closed in May 2018 as part of a school district consolidation plan.

Contact Jim Riccioli at (262) 446-6635 or james.riccioli@jrn.com. Follow him on Twitter at @jariccioli.

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This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Residents move into new senior center at former Muskego school site