“We’re building a brand new facility and making sure our veterans have a safe place to call home,” Rauner said. “Building this new facility should not be caught up in the bureaucratic process. Our veterans deserve the best. They have fought to secure our freedom and we’re fighting to make sure they have the care they need for generations to come.”
Rauner signed Senate Bill 3128, allowing the state to use the design-build delivery method to renovate, rehabilitate and rebuild the Illinois Veterans’ Home at Quincy. This method will eliminate redundant steps in the traditional state construction process, shave months off the overall project time and save taxpayer dollars.
“More than 360 veterans call the Illinois Veterans’ Home at Quincy home and we’re excited about moving forward with this project,” said Illinois Department of Veterans Affairs Acting Director Stephen Curda. “This home is a staple in the community and we hope that never changes. We are all proud of this home and just last week, we gave Quincy residents an opportunity to learn more about the new home development process and provide ideas on what it could look like.”
Rauner also signed House Bill 5683, which makes the recently purchased Sycamore nursing facility an official part of the Illinois Veterans’ Home at Quincy. Renovations are already underway on the Sycamore unit and are expected to be complete by the end of the year. Securing this unit will ensure continuity of care and temporary housing for veterans while construction on the new facility at the existing campus is ongoing.
“We continue to move quickly on a number of initiatives to serve our veterans,” said Mike Hoffman, senior adviser to the governor. “This includes the renovation of the Sycamore building, ongoing water management projects, and development of a new master plan for the Quincy campus.”
State legislators applauded today’s actions.
“The heroes who live at the Quincy Veterans’ Home deserve the very best care that can be provided, and today we took a major step in ensuring that will happen,” said Rep. Randy Frese, R-Quincy. “Our veterans and the entire Quincy community are thankful and are looking forward to a remodeled and revitalized Quincy Veterans’ Home.”
“This is part of a multi-pronged effort to provide top notch facilities for our state’s veterans in Quincy,” said Rep. Mike McAuliffe, R-Chicago. “It will guarantee that the veterans that are moved to Sycamore during ongoing renovations to Quincy are still seeing the same familiar, caring faces.”