Charles Hise, co-owner of Dunn Nursing Home, 515 Mabry St., has a Christmas wish for the 93 residents under his care who will soon move to the brand-new Park Place Nursing and Rehabilitation Center: that the move will be completed during

a weekend before Christmas. As he describes it, the residents will wake up in their room in Dunn and go to sleep that evening in their new room at Park Place, together with all their possessions.

To make the wish come true, Hise has worked long and hard not to overlook a single detail in this mammoth operation.

Park Place, located at 100 Park Place in the vicinity of Vaughan Regional Medical Center, has been under construction for a number of months and Hise said preparations are about complete.

He hopes that using a veritable armada of vehicles &045; all volunteered, including ambulances, trucks, cars &045; the move of the residents can take place in one day.

Lots has already been accomplished to get the $5.5 million 52,000-square-foot facility located on the highest point in Selma in the new Park Place development ready to go on line.

The structure itself is completed, according to Hise, and now finishing touches are being put on the interior surfaces, and furniture is beginning to move into its new home. Outside, he said, a sprinkler system, together with sod and plantings are going in &045; first in the front of the building, then in the back.

Between now and moving day &045; really moving weekend, since the entire process will start on a Friday and end on Sunday evening &045; much remains to be done. Hise said that his staff and that of the contractor, Cooper Brothers

Construction Co., are working virtually around the clock to get the job done.

Simultaneously, an enormous amount of paper work is being processed, made necessary by the movement of the facility.

A meeting of family members will be held in the facility in advance of the move, in order to orient them to new procedures and the new facility in which their loved ones will be living. Hise said that family members will be the very first to see the newly finished facility.

Hise said he is astounded at the number of volunteers who have come forward to assist with the move, including church groups, family members, friends of the nursing home. Care Ambulance will be joined by other ambulances from around the state to whisk the patients from Dunn to Park Place. Not only are these services being offered free, but Dunn said that the ambulance owners approached him with the plan, which he gladly accepted.

The actual move of patients, according to Dunn, is estimated to take about five hours on a Sunday before Christmas.

Hise is still working on plans for an alternative use for the old Dunn in consultation with a group of ministers in the area. Envisioned is a facility that would provide housing for the elderly and congregate meals, to enable continuation of independent living.

As needs increase, he said, there are two assisted-living facilities owned by his company &045; one in Selma next to Park Place and one in Greenville &045; where residents can move, followed by Park Place which will offer skilled nursing, including specialty areas such as Alzheimer’s, and rehabilitation services that will also serve the community as well.