Therapy center planned in Lewes
The owners of Midway Fitness are thinking out of the box.
They have filed a conditional-use application for a new facility on a 6-acre parcel along Savannah Road in Lewes. The proposed 50,000-square-foot complex would house Gateway Motion and Fitness and the Cape Center for Movement Disabilities.
It would have the same fitness-related programs available now at Midway Fitness, but also provide a wide array of therapy programs.
The project requires a conditional-use because the unincorporated parcel is zoned AR-1, agricultural-residential, and not commercial. The site plan for the facility includes four racquetball courts, a fitness area and space for massage therapy and other therapies.
Rich Garrett, one of the owners, said if the application is approved the current Midway Fitness would eventually be closed and relocated to the new site under a new name.
Two years ago, staff at Midway Fitness started offering specialized programs for the Sussex County Parkinson's Support Group. “We immediately saw a huge need and also saw that services needed to be offered at low or no cost,” Garrett said.
The idea for a new facility with more space was initiated.
And the idea to create a nonprofit organization was born with the assistance of Robert Wiltshire, a Beebe Healthcare anesthesiologist, Martha Sullivan, a retired lawyer, and Patrick McCoy, an engineer working on the project. Garrett said the group's nonprofit status should be approved by March.
Garrett said one of the most exciting phases of the project is the possible addition of a six-lane indoor pool. “It's a long-term goal. We know if we can pull it off, there will be a huge amount of interest,” he said.
He said he met with residents in the Villages of Five Points who would share property lines with the proposed project and told them plans include a large, green-space buffer. “We want residents to feel positive about this,” he said.
He said programs would be offered to people with MS and those recovering from strokes or other brain injuries.
A physical therapist has been added to the staff to lead the Big and Loud program, which was developed specifically for people with Parkinson's disease for speech and limb therapy. “This would be a continuum of care under one roof,” he said.
Public hearings on the application before the county's planning and zoning commission and county council are scheduled for late spring.
