The former home of Cedar Hill Middle School is scheduled to soon be occupied by an assisted living home for the elderly.

Cedartown City Commissioners approved the rezoning ordinance to change the Cedar Hill property, 402 East Ellawood Ave., from an R-2 zoning to an R-3 zoning.

Stan Stephens, with Premier Senior Living Communities, the company that purchased the Cedar Hill property from the Polk School District, said the company has plans for a $2.3 million renovation of the old Cedar Hill building. Stephens said that the building will be converted into 60 individual apartments described as private pay personal care residences and that his company has years of experience.

“These are not nursing homes and they are not government supported,” he said.

Both the exterior and interior of the building will be renovated.

Renovations to the exterior will be designed to make the facility safer and more pleasant. Interior renovations will be vast, he said.

“When you walk in you are going to see a new building.”

Cedartown City Manager James Stephens, no relation to the aforementioned Stan Stephens, confirmed Monday afternoon that work has already begun at the site.

According to Assistant City Attorney Rob Monroe, the planning commission recommended in September that the rezoning be approved subject to certain conditions.

These conditions included a fence put up around the perimeter of the facility, access to a driveway for emergency purposes only and that the athletic field purchased with the property not be rezoned.

“Those were the concerns of the community at the time of the hearings,” Monroe said. He later told commissioners that the ordinance meets those three requirements.

The facility will serve a 25-mile radius, Stan Stephens said. He called the demand for this type of facility “huge” but the impact on the community small.

“This type of facility creates very little demand on the local community,” he said. “We are excited about it and really look forward to working on this facility.”

No opposition was given to the rezoning request at the meeting.

Cedar Hill and Purks Middle School merged to form Cedartown

Middle School in 2002. The Cedar Hill building has been left dormant since. At several recent commission meetings, residents of that area had suggested turning the building into a facility for youth.