New assisted living center breaks ground in Bigfork

This Christmas should be a special one in Bigfork.

There will be about 30 new residents in town, living a new life and starting new chapters in their lives, all at the Rising Mountains in Bigfork.  

Rising Mountains is an assisted-living community one mile north of Bigfork that broke ground last Friday. Dirt is being moved and foundations poured, and the community’s developers are anticipating a late-fall opening — just in time for the holidays. “We want the  residents to be able to move in and be settled by Christmas,” Bill Dale said. Dale and his wife, Char, are developing Rising Mountains on five acres next to the Pope John Paul II Catholic church. This is the third assisted-living center that the Dales have created; the first was Prestige Assisted Living in Kalispell and the second was The Springs in Whitefish.

In Bigfork, the 25,000-square-foot community center will provide for 30 residents. The Bigfork facility is being built next to the Catholic church, which is helping in the project. “It’s what they do … taking care of the seniors is important to the church and making sure they have a comfortable Montana home,” Bill Dale said.

This facility is meant to give Bigfork  families a place where their elders can come home to — a place that will keep Montana families together. “It’s like a little town to itself,” Char Dale said. “There’s a post office, restaurant, hair salon, church, health club and fine dining … everything that takes place in a community. It’s all about keeping seniors in Bigfork, so people in Bigfork can stay in their community.”

The Dales continue to pour their lives into developing quality assisted-living centers that help smaller communities. Char has been in health care for 40 years, and Bill has been in construction management and business throughout his career. With the help of Mike Felt, the couple  decided to build this project in Bigfork. “We were planning on retiring but Char got tired of making lunches for me,” Bill said with a smile. “We just love what we do.”

Local builders and trades businesses were hired for the construction. “We think they’re the best in the state, and the country,” Bill said. About 100 families are supported by the construction process of Rising Mountains through the summer, Bill said. When completed, Rising Mountains will have about 15 full-time employees.

The center will become a part of the larger Bigfork community. “We offer a sense of community within the community,” Char said.

The Dales’ plan for Rising Mountains gives residents independent living with help when needed. Residents can live in one-bedroom apartments with single or double occupancy. There are walking trails around the perimter of the property, which sits near the base of the Swan Mountains.

The Dales take pleasure in seeing the way seniors’ lives are improved when they come to an assisted-living community. “When they move in, they just flourish,” Char said. “It’s such a relief to their families, knowing they are in a safe place.”

“They just come alive,” Bill added.

Char said the Rising Mountains community will be a great benefit to the Bigfork community by adding more seniors to the town. “I think this is completing the community,” she said.