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HOME COMING FOR VETERANS IN WEST L.A. --
Groundbreaking is this week for a facility on
the
VA campus. It's one of five being built in the
state.
Story here...
http://www.latimes.com/
news/printedition/california/la-me
-vetshome5jul05,0,5299664.story
?coll=la-headlines-pe-california
Story below:
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Home coming for veterans in West L.A.
Groundbreaking is this week for a facility on
the VA campus. It's one of five being built in the state.
By Martha Groves, Times Staff Writer
Rarely does a Westside construction project fail to provoke a NIMBY
shout from one sector or another. But elation, not protests, will greet
bulldozers next week as they begin ripping out parking lots and
demolishing old buildings on the West Los Angeles Veterans Affairs
campus to make way for a new state Veterans Home.
"There was absolutely no opposition to this," said Los Angeles County
Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky. "Homeowners signed on, chambers of commerce,
elected officials. We wanted it; we need it."
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and Jim Nicholson, secretary of the federal
Department of Veterans Affairs, are expected to be among the dignitaries
appearing at the project's groundbreaking Friday.
The 396-bed, $183-million facility, slated to open in spring 2010, is
one of five new veterans homes planned for California, which the federal
VA acknowledged years ago was in "great need" of additional residential
facilities. Work began in mid-June on satellite homes in Ventura and
Lancaster, and two others are planned, in Fresno and Redding.
Support for the new state-sponsored homes reflects the recognition that
California's large and aging population of military veterans has
strained the system created to support it. About 400,000 of California's
2.2 million veterans live in the greater Los Angeles area, according to
the California Department of Veterans Affairs. Many of them are
homeless. The state now has just three veterans homes, in Chula Vista,
Barstow and Yountville.
Recognizing the disparity, voters in 2000 approved the Veterans' Bond
Act. State legislators subsequently passed measures that made $120
million available to develop and build the five new state homes. The
state money was required so the project could get matching funds from
the federal Department of Veterans Affairs, which contributed nearly
$180 million to construct the three homes in Southern California and
deeded over to the state the 13.7-acre site at the West Los Angeles
campus.
The matching fund system was "established to show a commitment to the
project on the part of the state receiving the grant funding," a federal
VA spokesman said.
The unified support of Brentwood and Westwood residents for the project
stands in sharp contrast to their frequent staunch opposition over the
last decade to proposals by the federal VA to commercialize the
property. Raising residents' ire, the VA once proposed erecting a
professional football stadium on the property. Consultants have also
suggested hotels and mixed-use projects.
The community has also sharply criticized the VA for allowing uses not
directly related to serving veterans. Enterprise Rent-a-Car stores
vehicles there, as does a bus company. Theaters operate on the grounds.
Film shoots are common, as are fairs, festivals and other events.
Neighbors say the events add to congestion and disrupt their lives.
Ralph D. Tillman, the VA's director of asset management at the campus,
says such arrangements provide about $5 million annually for repairs and
improvements.
U.S. Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) and Rep. Henry A. Waxman (D-Los
Angeles) have proposed legislation that would require the VA to create a
master plan for the property. Such a plan is necessary, they say, to
ensure that veterans, residents and other stakeholders know what future
projects or renovations will occur and so the community can ensure that
the VA does not plan any commercial development.
The new state Veterans Home will help return the campus to its roots. In
1887, with thousands of veterans of the Indian Wars and the Civil War in
need of treatment and housing, Congress mandated a Pacific branch of the
National Home for Disabled Volunteer Soldiers. A dozen Victorian
dormitories rose on the gently sloping grounds to house vets in what
became known as the National Soldiers Home.
The state Veterans Home will be north of Wilshire Boulevard at the
western edge of the 388-acre campus, just south of the Brentwood
Theater.
Designed by the Smith Group, based in San Francisco, the
372,000-square-foot home will provide 84 beds for residential care for
the elderly, 252 skilled-nursing beds and 60 beds for long-term care of
veterans with dementia disorders such as Alzheimer's disease.
Even before construction begins, the project has received an honorable
mention from Design for Senior Environments, a publication that covers
nursing homes and long-term care management. The magazine praised the
design, which is curved to make best use of the slender, awkwardly
shaped site. The building will be organized into 10 residential
"neighborhoods" grouped into three main areas, each with its own
character and courtyard. Residential rooms are planned to provide as
much privacy as possible. The facility will feature abundant natural
light and lots of artwork.
Cindy Miscikowski, a former L.A. city councilwoman who represented areas
near the VA campus, recalled that it was easy to muster backing for the
Veterans Home. "There was a wildfire of support," she said. "We wanted
to demonstrate that we could support something and show the VA things
they should be trying to do."
Citizens and veterans groups joined forces with the state Department of
Veterans Affairs to win the project. Community members, elected
officials and veterans groups praised the state agency for soliciting
residents' views and staying in frequent communication.
"They came hat in hand to the community," Yaroslavsky said, "not as
dictators coming from Washington, but as stakeholders themselves in a
highly impacted community."
Keith Jeffreys, president of Citizens for Veterans' Rights, said
veterans "are very pleased that the state of California stepped up to
the plate and did this."
martha.groves@latimes.com
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Larry Scott --
