Well●Spring, A Life Plan Community opens Phase 1 of $30-million construction project featuring new resident amenities

GREENSBORO, N.C. – Well•Spring, A Life Plan Community has opened Phase 1 of a $30-million expansion to house a wide array of new amenities for its residents, including additional dining options and a major strategic shift toward on-site access to significant arts programming.

The newly opened Bauman Bistro and Special Occasions Room nearly triple the dining space for Well•Spring’s 420 residents. A new lounge, which can seat approximately 65 people, will offer residents a full bar with mixed drinks for the first time.

The new lounge

Construction on Phase 2 – the Resident Activity Center – is expected to be completed around late November. The center will feature a new 340-seat theater, art studios, a woodworking and hobby shop, rehearsal space and the Jo Safrit & Cathy Ennis Gallery, showcasing rotating exhibits of artworks from the collection of UNCG’s Weatherspoon Art Museum.

The project marks the largest addition of amenities to Well•Spring’s main campus since the opening of its Aquatic and Fitness Center in October 2002.

“Our residents are thrilled over the exciting new options we are providing them with this important addition,” said K. Alan Tutterow, executive director. “These new spaces are very much in tune with what our residents and prospective new residents are looking for in a well-rounded, active and rewarding lifestyle.”

The Bauman Bistro – made possible in part through a generous gift from the late Ed Bauman and his wife, Vivien, longtime Well•Spring residents – provides casual dining options for the first time in Well•Spring’s 25-year history. Made-to-order dishes, homemade pizzas, sandwiches, simple entrees and a salad bar highlight the Bistro’s culinary offerings in a relaxed setting.

“The dining preferences of today’s residents are much different than those of when we opened in 1993,” Tutterow pointed out. “Now people appreciate being able to choose between a more casual dining setting and that of our formal, fine-dining space, the Weaver Dining Room.”

Bauman Bistro

With the opening of the Bauman Bistro, work has begun on a complete renovation of the Weaver Dining Room, which will wrap up around the same time as the Resident Activity Center. “With the reopening of our updated Weaver Dining Room, we will continue the long, highly regarded tradition of fine dining for which Well•Spring is so well known,” Tutterow said.

The opening of the lounge marks an enormous evolution of this amenity. “When Well•Spring was built, there were no plans for a lounge,” Tutterow said. “With future resident feedback, we quickly adjusted those plans to accommodate a bar. And we later converted an existing space into a larger lounge area. Having now outgrown that space, we’re pleased that the new lounge – operating with a full liquor license – can seat around 65 residents and visitors at any given time.”

Special Occasions Room

The new Special Occasions Room, featuring a separate outdoor entrance, can seat around 80 people and is an ideal space for private parties, receptions and meetings.

The late 2018 opening of the new Resident Activity Center – Phase 2 – will herald a significant strategic move by Well•Spring to provide its residents with immediate, on-site access to a wide array of arts programming. Well•Spring is partnering with regional arts groups and will host productions ranging from the beloved 5 by O.Henry annual series of plays in conjunction with the Greensboro History Museum to performances by Greensboro Opera, Bel Canto opera company and the Greensboro Symphony, among others. A full slate of initial programming will be announced later this year.

“The Resident Activity Center – and the theater, in particular – will provide our residents with an incredible arts-centered lifestyle,” Tutterow said. “It’s hard to beat enjoying a live performance by the full Greensboro Symphony, for example, basically in your own home.”

Rendering of the new Well-Spring Theatre

The Christman Co. is the principal contractor of the new dining areas and Resident Activity Center.