By Amber Thompson
News-Aegis
Pell City —
Mere hours after it was announced that combat operations in Iraq are officially over, the state of Alabama announced their dedication to the wellbeing of veterans to come with the opening of the state’s newest and largest veterans home in Pell City.
“After the board authorized the project, we went from concept to design, and now we’re on the brink of construction,” said Rear Admiral Clyde Marsh. “We’ve collaborated with great partners, the local county commissioners, the Pell City officials and the Jefferson State leadership. It took all of these entities and personalities to make this a reality, and we’re almost there.”
The facility, scheduled to break ground in November or December of this year, will be a 230,000 square foot campus, capable of housing 224 veterans, making it the largest veteran’s home in the state.
In a collaboration between many local, state and federal government agencies, the facility is designed as a series of houses and communities to deinstitutionalize care for American servicemen and women. The facility includes a town center with shops and a dining area for residents, walking paths and private dormitories with private bathrooms for each of the veterans living at the home.
Gov. Bob Riley said because the concept hasn’t been widely executed, the facility was built from the ground up with veterans’ needs in mind.
“This is going to be one of the leading homes, I think, in the United States. I think it’s going to be a prototype to what we do going forward,” he explained. “This is something that I think is going to offer so much to so many of our veterans.”
Currently, 65 percent of the funds for the home have been secured through the federal government, Riley said. The other 35 percent of the funds will be raised by the state of Alabama. However, construction will begin immediately and finish with available funds.
“This would not have happened without (Sen.) Jeff Sessions and (Rep.) Spencer Bachus. They, again, have pushed and pushed and pushed and got us enough money so we can get us a jumpstart,” Riley said. “We can begin construction this year and we’re going to build this. It will be something everyone in Alabama is going to look at and say in pride, ‘This is the best we’ve ever had.’”
