Heritage Community of Kalamazoo to Rename Buildings and Dining Areas

The renaming initiative will build upon the community’s evolving culture

KALAMAZOO, Mich. —Heritage Community of Kalamazoo has announced the renaming of several buildings and dining areas on its campus. The renaming initiative was finalized after months of strategic planning and intentional efforts to unify the Heritage brand and reflect the vision, mission, and core values of the community as well as the evolution of Kalamazoo.

Redeveloping campus-wide nomenclature in a way that modernizes the Heritage Community brand—without compromising its deep roots in the history and culture of Kalamazoo—required careful consideration, taking into account many factors, including: eliminating the confusion between some of the current names; calling attention to a hospitality rather than a clinical focus; honoring the connection and history with Kalamazoo; emphasizing the human connection and emotional well-being of the campus; unifying the campus with a naming style that equalizes all living options; and facilitating the connection of all residents and staff to come together under the main community name. The building and independent living restaurant name changes are as follows:

• Wyndham Apartments (Independent Living) will become The Artisan
  • Expresses the spirit and the timeless craftsmanship of the industrial age. Signifies a specific knowledge, caring or philosophy that is most often carried out by hand.

• Wyndham West (Assisted Living) and Amber Way (Memory Care) will become Meilland Square
  • Named after the rose variety Rosa “Madame A. Meilland,” “The Peace Rose,” which is said to encapsulate drama, love and greatness of spirit.
• Directors Hall (Assisted Living) and Amber Place (Memory Care) will become Hawthorn Landing

• • The building has beautiful hawthorn trees along the side of its building. “When hawthorn appears, it brings a message of hope and healing for our heart on both the physical and emotional level.” – Tree Spirit Wisdom

• The Harold and Grace Upjohn Care and Rehabilitation Center name will be reorganized to simply the reading by adding The Upjohn while keeping the other identifiers.
  • by simple addition of “THE” before Upjohn conveys a sense of place and elevates the level of importance.

• Sutherland Bistro will become Sidecar
  • A casual bistro with a full-service bar and private dining room. It’s the perfect place to enjoy a well-crafted cocktail, watch the big game, or grab a quick meal to go to enjoy in your home or on the garden patio, equipped with heat lamps and a water feature.

• Merit Dining Room will become Vintage
  • This classic Midwest supper club offers traditional fine dining made from scratch and incorporating family heirloom recipes in thoughtfully coursed meals.

In addition to the renaming initiative, locally-owned and not-for-profit Heritage Community of Kalamazoo is expanding with the addition of Ridge Creek. Ridge Creek will reflect Heritage’s legacy of modern, luxurious, independent, senior living excellence in Southwest Michigan, and further revitalize Kalamazoo by addressing the wants and needs of a new generation of seniors. Ridge Creek will feature three additional restaurants, The Gallery, The Vault, and The Upper Bank.

“Kalamazoo, much like the Heritage Community, is in the midst of renewal. Through the development of our new Ridge Creek Independent Living apartments, coming this Spring, to the opening of our Memory Care Learning Center this January, we are taking an important look at the way today’s seniors want to live and give them the options and resources to do so in a way that unifies our community,” said Jay Prince, CEO. “We’ve also extended our changes to renaming our buildings and dining across campus to better reflect the connection to our environment and our roots. We feel this renaming will further define the community under unified concept and one Heritage.”