Panel approves veterans home
Arist Rendering
POST FALLS — Calling it a good fit for Riverbend Commerce Park, the Post Falls Planning and Zoning Commission on Tuesday unanimously approved a special use permit for construction of a 64-bed skilled nursing facility for veterans.
The $49 million North Idaho Veterans Center will be a single-story, 82,000 square-foot facility built on 7.3 acres in the commerce park, located in western Post Falls. The applicant is the Division of Veterans Services for the State of Idaho.
Land surrounding the site is mostly vacant.
The central portion of the building, called the community center, will house the administration, food service, laundry, staff offices and support functions. On the south side of the community center will be the residential wing, which will surround enclosed courtyards with resident dining, living room, private resident rooms, den and other related functions.
The effort to build an Idaho Veterans Center in the Post Falls area started about 15 years ago with former Post Falls Mayor Clay Larkin and the late Rep. Frank Henderson, R-Post Falls. Both men are veterans themselves.
The effort involved an extensive study to establish the need for such a facility, said veteran and facility torch-bearer Len Crosby of Post Falls.
The study concluded that there are more than 19,000 veterans in North Idaho who may benefit from such a facility.
Based on the study, the Legislature approved matching funds and the local Jacklin family donated the shovel-ready site, Crosby said in a letter to Post Falls city planners.
After several years on the waiting list for Veterans Affairs funding, a grant was secured for $31 million, representing 65% of the project cost.
The facility will be owned and operated by the Idaho Division of Veterans Services and will be available to honorably discharged veterans who are Idaho residents, Crosby said.
Construction is expected to start next spring with occupancy in 2021.
The Post Falls facility will become Idaho’s fourth veterans home. Others are in Lewiston, Boise and Pocatello.