Bel-Wood Nursing Home: Our 150 Year History
The 150 Year History of Bel-Wood Nursing Home
Bel-Wood Nursing Home, the oldest county-owned nursing home in the State of Illinois, has been part of our local history for more than 150 years.
In January of 1848, Peoria County Commissioners purchased 80 acres with buildings at 7023 W. Plank Road for $1,000. In the summer of 1851, the Board of Supervisors purchased another 160 acres adjoining the County Farm for $9,000. With 240 acres, there was ample land to grow and raise enough farm and stock products to support the patients at the home.
In March 1886, the main building was consumed by a fire that left only the walls standing. A committee was appointed to attend to all matters pertaining to the rebuilding of the home. By December of the same year, the new building had been completed.
The last extensive improvement to the old facility was a hospital for the sick and infirm. This independent hospital, owned and operated by the County, accommodated approximately 60 patients. In 1948, the facility became the Peoria County Nursing Home and was licensed by the Illinois Department of Public Health. With this change, the facility's administrator, Charles Boyer, asked his employees to suggest a new name for the home. Johanna "Jake" Vicary, a nurse at the facility, believed the name Bel-Wood fit perfectly because the building was located between the villages of Bellevue and Norwood.
From 1958 to 1961, the home was updated with elevators, a fire alarm system, central kitchen facilities, ramps for wheelchairs, increased infirmary facilities, and stand-by water and heating systems. In addition, new laundry equipment was purchased, a room was established for a beauty shop and a library cart was purchased to help distribute reading and writing material to residents. The activity department, established in 1958, boasted a 40 percent participation rate of the 236 residents. A 15' x 20' solarium was also added to the women's section of the home for $5,000.
In 1966, a referendum was passed that allowed Peoria County to build a new County nursing home. The referendum provided $3,200,000 to build a new facility with 300 beds, some featuring hospital amenities to aid in the care of bedridden patients. At the time of this successful referendum, the home was full to capacity with a waiting list nearly as long.
On April 15, 1967, groundbreaking ceremonies were held for the $3 million facility, which was constructed just east of the old home on Plank Road. The "Famous Five" members of the Bel-Wood Nursing Home Committee were the Masters of Ceremony. These included Roger Fiske, Ray Neumann, Ed Taylor, Delbert Dunblazier and Wilbur Stranz. Committee Chairman Fiske told the audience the event was the result of seven years of work to see that Peoria's senior citizens had a nicer place to spend their later years.
Fiske told the local newspaper: "This was a team effort. Our senior citizens spent many years building up the County. The citizens of Peoria County are to be complimented on the fact they gave their blessing on the bond issue to go ahead with this worthy project."
Carefully planned over many years, the new Bel-Wood Nursing Home replaced a collection of inadequate, inefficient buildings. Architects praised the building as a modern and efficient design with 144 double rooms, 12 private rooms and 115,800 square feet of floor space. The single-floor design consisted of a central service core surrounded by six 50-bed, T-shaped wings. The wings were named for the facility's surrounding communities: Peoria, Norwood, Chillicothe, Glasford, Hanna City and Bellevue.
Each wing included a solarium and exterior courts, all beautifully landscaped. The new design also boasted handrails along both walls of each corridor; drinking fountains at wheelchair height; recreation and therapy facilities; closet and drawer space for each resident; and connecting half-baths between rooms.
The home was ready for occupancy on November 30, 1968. The Southwest Kiwanis Club helped move the 236 patients into the new facility. Volunteers provided four buses and three ambulances for the one-day move; a local construction company provided two lift trucks for luggage and equipment.
The old buildings were razed in the early 1970s and the land was purchased by the United States Navy Reserve, which still has a small unit on the property today.
Bel-Wood has been, and will remain, a valuable asset to the county. We look forward to serving the needs of the elderly for many, many years to come.
