City approves plan to create first ‘dementia village’ in the US

Wednesday, February 11, 2026

As reported by 7 News WMTV

A city council in Wisconsin approved one of the first steps for America’s first “dementia village,” designed to address the isolation and loneliness those living with Alzheimer’s disease may feel.

The $40 million project, spearheaded by Agrace, a Wisconsin nonprofit hospice and palliative care agency, is based on a concept from the Netherlands. Instead of a traditional memory care facility, people living with dementia will be part of a small community, living alongside neighbors with similar interests.

In January, the Fitchburg Common Council approved a step in having the dementia village built on Agrace’s Fitchburg campus.

“My great-grandma lived with me while she was suffering from dementia, and watching someone go through that is absolutely heart-wrenching,” Fitchburg Alder Logan Reigstad said. “I don’t often have words to describe it.

But then there would be these glimmers, these little moments when she would come back. And it would be a memory of a song, or it would be something that would trigger that.”

Reigstad said he hopes this project will help create more positive moments for other families.

“As I look at the dementia village concept, where it’s really trying to evoke that, I just think of how many more moments it could provide for families like mine and all of those suffering from dementia,” he said.

The project comes as Agrace President and Chief Executive Officer Lynne Sexten says dementia cases are expected to surge in the coming years.

“There’s going to be such a gap, such a need for additional memory care beds in our community that it was a slam dunk. It made sense to move forward with this,” Sexten said. “Families aren’t happy, the people living in these memory care units aren’t always happy, and so really what we wanted to do was try to find a better solution. And this solution has been created in lots of other countries, just not the U.S.”

Agrace said the village won’t look or feel like a nursing home.

The community will have eight small homes, each housing eight residents. It will also include a restaurant, spa and grocery store designed to feel like a real neighborhood.

“We want to create an environment where we restore as much autonomy and personal spontaneity as possible for those living with dementia,” Sexten said.

The project will also include housing for staff, helping address caregiver burnout.

“This is just another option for senior-related housing in our community with that particular high-skilled care that folks with dementia need and allows them to stay closer to home,” Reigstad said.

Agrace hasn’t released exact pricing yet for families interested, but officials say it will be similar to other memory care facilities in the area. Room and board will be paid out of pocket. Medical expenses will be billed to insurance.

The village can house up to 65 people, and around 40 to 50 can visit as day club members. The village is expected to break ground in the spring of 2026 and open in September of 2026.