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MARION VA CONSIDERS LEASING UNUSED BUILDINGS
FOR SENIOR HOUSING -- The buildings are among
the
oldest on the campus, constructed between 1893
and 1898.
AVAILABLE - Building 7 on the
campus of Marion VA Medical Center is proposed to be leased.
(photo: Marion Chronicle-Tribune) |
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http://www.chronicle-tribune
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0805/NEWS01/708050333/1002
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VA considers senior housing
Medical center wants to lease 4 unused
buildings on campus The changing face of veterans' care Someone's
interested in the buildings
BY ANDREW NEEL
aneel@marion.gannett.com
The Marion VA Medical Center was created in the 19th Century as a
shelter for Civil War veterans. Now, 108 years later, the campus could
for the first time be used on a mission unrelated to the military.
Officials at the hospital, 1700 E 38th St., are one step closer to
leasing four buildings as renovated affordable housing for senior
citizens.
Jeff Hull, VA's public affairs officer, said the Marion branch sent a
proposal to its Washington office last year requesting to lease
Buildings 1 through 6 at the center. The VA recently changed its lease
proposal to Buildings 7, 10, 11 and 18 because those buildings offer
advantages for separate housing.
"They're set apart from our hospital activities ... and the buildings
are connected by corridors," Hull said.
Once the government approves the new proposal, Hull said, the VA will
accept bids for the buildings.
"Any approval is still several months down the road. This is a long
process," Hull said.
Hull said the buildings, which have been vacant about 10 years, had been
patient wards. They are among the oldest on the campus, constructed
between 1893 and 1898.
"We went through (the buildings) with a preservation architect, and
they're fine for renovation," Hull said. "Structurally, they're sound
buildings."
The potential of leasing buildings for use by the public marks a
significant change in the VA's history.
The Marion campus is one of the 10 original sites in the National Asylum
for Disabled Volunteer Soldiers, a system established by Congress and
President Abraham Lincoln in 1865.
The facility was approved by President Grover Cleveland on July 23,
1888, and was formally opened in 1889.
A gatehouse, which can still be seen today at 38th Street and Lincoln
Boulevard, stood at the original entrance.
The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, formerly the Veterans
Administration, controls the hospital.
Barry Baker, manager of business support services for the VA, said the
hospital is different today than when he began working there in 1983.
Baker said the VA had more than 1,000 patients as recently as the early
1990s, but that number has dropped significantly since then. The VA
serves about 170 patients on average, with 150 nursing home beds and 75
mental health beds available for veterans.
Baker attributes the decrease in patients to a shift from
institutionalized, long-term medicine to a treatment designed to allow
veterans to return to residential settings and interact in community.
"The world of medicine radically evolved during this period, from an
inpatient to outpatient model of care," Baker said.
While the VA has ceased to use several older patient wards, Baker sees
this as an improvement that benefits the health and cultural environment
of the patients.
"Whereas in the past, patients in those outbuildings, which are now
closed, would have to brave all sorts of weather conditions for meals
and medical care, all patient-related activities are now in connected
buildings," Baker said.
Although there are 18 vacant buildings on the campus, Hull said 10 of
them are beyond repair. He said the buildings that are regularly used
have been maintained well despite their age. He cited the example of
Building 2, which was constructed in 1890 but is still used for
administration offices today.
"The problem comes with the buildings we vacate. Because once a building
that old is vacated, it can decay quickly," Hull said.
Although the VA isn't accepting any bids for leasing the four buildings
yet, there is at least one potential bidder who already has expressed
interest.
"We started talking with the VA about the possibility five years ago. We
still have interest (today)," said Kenneth Adkins, president and CEO of
LifeStream Services Inc., a non-profit organization in Yorktown.
LifeStream Services provides assistance and products to older adults,
disabled people, their families and their communities in east central
Indiana.
If LifeStream were to have the winning bid, the buildings would be
leased through the Quality Housing Development, a non-profit affiliate
of LifeStream. Adkins said the buildings would be an asset to Marion as
well as to the low-income senior citizens who would live there.
"It just seems like an ideal location," he said. "It's a park-like
setting. It simply seems like a nice, safe place to live."
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Larry Scott --
