NEW BERLIN – A $13 million capital building campaign is set to commence in the next few months for renovations at Chase Memorial Nursing Home, a not-for-profit long-term care facility located here.

Town of New Berlin Supervisor Ross Iannello presented the project Wednesday to members of the Chenango County Planning & Economic Development Committee. The 35-year old health care facility is “obsolete,” he said, and the New York State Department of Health has “enthusiastically supported” its application to break away from the traditional institutional model and build eight individual “homes” for residents in a campus-like setting.

Administrator Roger J. Halbert said the state DOH has put the project “on the fast track.” Total completion could come as early as December 2008.

Chase Memorial was the first in the country to embrace a revolutionary approach to caring for the elderly that integrates daily contact with children, plants and gardens. The concept, called the Eden Alternative, was founded by Chenango County’s own Dr. William H. Thomas, of Columbus, an internationally recognized leader in eldercare.