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NEW DENVER VA HOSPITAL A REALITY -- The
veterans
hospital campus is scheduled to open in 2011
with
1.4 million square feet of usable space.
Artist's rendering of new Denver VA
hospital.
There's a story behind this story.
The new VA hospital will sit on former
Army land. The Army sold the land, for a song, to developers...who
then turned around and sold it to the VA, not for a song. The Army
could have deeded this land to the VA, but didn't
It's interesting to note that VA
Secretary Jim Nicholson is from Colorado and is a land developer and
home builder.
Makes you wonder, doesn't it?
Background with backlinks here...
http://www.vawatchdog.org/
old%20newsflashes%20APR%2006/newsflash04-06-2006-1.htm
Story here...
http://www.rockymountainnews.com/
drmn/local/article/0,1299,DR
MN_15_5465672,00.html
Story below:
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New VA hospital a reality
Fitzsimons will become home to state-of-art
facility
By Chris Barge, Rocky Mountain News
AURORA - When Jim Nicholson took over as U.S. secretary of veterans
affairs two years ago, plans for replacing his home state's aging
veterans hospital were "looking pretty dim," he said Wednesday.
Nicholson, by contrast, was beaming as he stood on a stage next to an
open field on the east flank of the Fitzsimons medical campus and
announced that the state-of-the-art hospital would be built after all.
Nicholson said he signed a deal last Thursday with the Aurora
Redevelopment Authority to buy the first 18 acres of the planned 31-acre
site for $11.15 million.
The VA will acquire the rest of the property during the next year, while
an architect draws up plans, Nicholson said. The veterans hospital
campus is scheduled to open in 2011 with 1.4 million square feet of
usable space.
"This is a red-letter day for Colorado," Nicholson said. "It's a
red-letter day for Denver and it's a red-letter day for Aurora. But most
importantly, it's a red-letter day for veterans."
The hospital's future became doubtful the year before Nicholson took
over, when then-VA Secretary Anthony Principi announced that he wanted
more than 30 acres to build a free-standing hospital to replace the
aging veterans facility near East Ninth Avenue and Colorado Boulevard in
east Denver.
What Principi proposed conflicted with a long-standing vision of
building a VA hospital on 13 acres that would abut the new University
Hospital at Fitzsim-ons so the two could share services.
Fitzsimons property owners said they couldn't come up with the
additional land, prompting local, state and federal officials to work on
salvaging an agreement.
Nicholson recalled how Aurora Mayor Ed Tauer flew to Washington, D.C.,
soon after Nicholson replaced Principi in 2005.
"We said, 'How can we put this together? Because it's needed and it
makes sense,' " Nicholson said. " 'Let's forget about what's happened so
far and look forward and get this done.' And he said, 'I think that's a
great idea,' and we have done that."
In all, the redevelopment authority, led by Tauer, plans to sell 24
acres on the northeast corner of East Colfax Avenue and Fitzsimons
Parkway to the VA for an estimated $15 million.
The redevelopment authority, which had planned hotels and office
buildings for the property where the hospital will now go, will use
proceeds from the land sale to buy a new parcel for those projects,
Tauer said.
The VA found seven additional acres on three adjacent parcels, including
the new University Physicians Inc. building on East Colfax Avenue. The
new hospital property will be bounded by East Colfax Avenue to the
south, Fitzsimons Parkway to the east, East 19th Place to the north and
Wheeling Street to the west.
Money in President Bush's 2008 budget will pay for two of the initial
structures, Nicholson said. The balance of the $658 million VA medical
center will be paid for out of the 2009 budget, he said.
The design will take about 12 months to complete, keeping the project on
track to be put out for construction bids by mid-2008.
It will have medical, surgical and in-patient wards, mental health
in-patient treatment facilities, special units for spinal cord injury
patients and a new nursing home.
Once complete, it will bring the total amount invested in facilities at
Fitzsimons to $4.3 billion.
New VA medical center, by the numbers
• Planned opening......2011
• Cost......$658 million
• Total land......31 acres
• Size......1.4 million sq. ft.
• Jobs created......1,800
bargec@RockyMountainNews.com or 303-954-5059
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Larry Scott --
