By Sarah Payne | [email protected]

Cedarwood at Sandy, one of many Kisco Senior Living communities in the Salt Lake area, held a grand reopening and ribbon-cutting ceremony on Thursday, Oct. 18. Cedarwood has been undergoing extensive renovations over the past couple of years, remodeling the lobby and other areas and updating the different areas available to its residents, coming to a total of $5 million. 

The senior living community has been a part of Kisco since 2016.
“It’s wonderful. They’re very nice,” said Carol, a resident of several months at Cedarwood. “It’s neat and clean, just a lot of fun people. We just really have an enjoyable place, lot fun times. We have games to play, good food... It’s very nice.”

The renovations have received a positive response from the residents of the community, as well as the Sandy area. The building itself is 30 years old. The new renovations have opened and upgraded the facility to better serve its residents. “We kinda made it fun,” said Jesse Buntjer, executive director of Cedarwood at Sandy. “We tried to be open. We had weekly meetings with the residents, and in the temporary walls we put windows ... to take a sneak peek and make it so they could actually watch the progress going. We did dusty shoe tours where we took residents through the renovated parts before they were complete, so they were able to be a part of it the whole time.”

Not one resident left the community due to the renovations to the building.
One of the most beneficial new amenities is Cedarwood’s new and improved wellness center. Among the new amenities are a variety of new programs, including the wellness program and the Stand Strong Program, to train and teach residents how to stay active and how to stay safe while doing it. “We believe very strongly in exercise and wellness and physical activity,” says Buntjer. “So we wanted to bring some of those components into the community here, and we felt like it was the time to upgrade and make it new and nice.” 

Residents are thrilled by the exciting changes.
“(The upgrades) are beautiful,” said Carol. “They’re really beautiful. We were excited to see the finish — everything they’ve done is very nice, it’s very useful, and we enjoy them.” 

Cedarwood at Sandy has created a beautiful home for its residents. The Kisco community strives to help those living within its walls to enjoy what is commonly known as the golden years. The new amenities available to residents include a new wellness center, parlor bistro, theater room and more. Residents are better able to stay active and are provided with a wide variety of services within the walls of the community itself, such as a salon and a place for religious worship, thus allowing everyone easy access where transportation would normally be necessary. 

One thing for which Cedarwood at Sandy is known is the food. Chris Emal, dining services director, oversees the culinary aspect of the community. “We take care of all of the menu planning, the ordering, the service,” said Emal. “We also do all of our catering in-house for private events. We even do road shows, where we cook for other places. One of the nice things about Cedarwood is we firmly believe we have the best food in senior living. Any of our residents can attest to that.”  

The mission of Kisco company is to make life at the community feel like living in a family. Its mission statement states, “We are committed to exemplary service delivered with integrity, dignity, and compassion.”
Coming in spring of next year, a new memory care program will be added to the amenities available to the residents.