Bella Vita moved into its new location about two weeks ago, taking up the old Starke United building that they purchased for $1 from the Starke United Board. Lange said their previous building on Heaton Street in Knox was owned by the Lutheran Church and they wanted to find a location they could own that would better suit their needs, though the old building suited them well for more than two years.
However, this new building, Lange said, has a variety of benefits.
“First of all, it’s handicap-accessible; the other one was not. We have a loading dock which helps when we have large purchases with cribs and mattresses and things like that – easier to get in. It’s a flat layout, and it’s easier for women to maneuver their way through the facility versus our old facility had really narrow stairs. This new building we can really section off some of these larger rooms and create more intake rooms or counseling rooms. The office is much larger; it’s just a much larger facility in general,” said Lange.
There is still some work that needs done, Lange explained.
“We do have to privatize it; we have to do some construction to it like bring the ceilings down and change the lights, so there’s some maintenance that has to go into it. But other than that, we love the building and we’re very excited to be in it and the potential is huge,” Lange said.
Call Bella Vita at (574) 772-2877 or visit them at their new location 52 W. Lake St. in Knox.
