facelift and expansion of the Packwood Home for senior citizens in Somerset, which has been closed for 18 months.

The project, which will double the number of beds in the residence to 28, should take 44 weeks to complete. The more spacious facility is expected to reopen within a year.

Lady Swan, who chairs the home's board of trustees, told those gathered: "If Dr. Packwood were alive today, he would be pleased to see his dream reach a new dimension.'' After an opening prayer from Miss Minerva Swan, management committee member Mrs. Elsie Bascome recalled the history behind the home.

In his will, Dr. Richard A. Packwood specified that the residence be converted for use as a home for the Island's seniors.

The house lay vacant for a number of years after Dr. Packwood's death in 1923, but a body of trustees was eventually formed to help his widow, Mary, make his vision a reality.

Renovations began in 1936, with numerous "friendly societies'' in and around the Somerset area donating funds, materials and time to construct and furnish the facility.

The Packwood Home's first resident when it opened in 1938 was a 100-year-old Somerset woman affectionately known as Aunt Sally.

Mrs. Helen Maynard, the only surviving founding member of the home, was on hand yesterday to move the first shovelful of earth on the site.

Lady Swan thanked a number of individuals and organisations that made the remodeling possible.

These included the Ministry of Works and Engineering which designed the extention and produced the plans, the Bank of Butterfield which approved a $1.5 million loan for the project, Sandys Rotarians and the Kardias Club.

She also praised the Packwood Home's building committee, its chairman Mr.

Lloyd Telford and the management committee for their dilligence and determination.

The committees have managed to raise some $600,000, but Lady Swan said more fundraising is needed to pay off the bank loan and cover other expenses.

Hi-Span Construction Company will begin the renovations today.

NEW BEGINNING -- The sole-surviving founder of the Packwood Home, Mrs. Helen Maynard, right, breaks ground at the home as chairman Lady Swan and management committee chairman Mr. Alfred Simmons watch.