It might look like things are moving slowly at the construction site, but the Florida Department of Veteran Affairs is making expected progress on the Ardie R. Copas State Veterans’ Nursing Home in Tradition.
The three-building facility will have two residual wings and a main center with a lobby, chapel, kitchen and dining areas, among other accoutrements. Steve Murray, communications director at the state veterans department, said laying foundation for that building is, as of press time, almost done.
“The concrete has been poured for that,” he said. “It’s almost literally days away from pouring the other two sides.”
The Florida Department of Veteran Affairs is not associated with the similarly-named federal Department of Veteran Affairs, although they’re sometimes mistaken. Additionally, the federal VA, which is paying 65 percent of the construction costs, was one of the funded departments during the recent partial federal government shutdown. That event had no effect on construction progress.
Murray said laying the foundation is a critical part of construction that requires patience.
“So when they build it doesn’t end up that 10, 15 years down the road the foundation starts to crumble on us,” he said.
He said that patience is built into the construction schedule.
“We hope to have the building turned over to us at the end of this calendar year and have it open in early 2020,” Murray said.
He estimated that come fall this year, the state veterans department will be advertising jobs at the facility. The department says it will hire about 175, who will attend to healthcare services, food services, maintenance and administration.
A few weeks later, it will start taking applications for qualifying veterans in need of its services. The department will introduce patients into the facility in small groups until it reaches capacity.
The ceremonial groundbreaking on the 120-bed facility was last March 20. Almost exactly three months later crews started clearing and leveling the 28-acre site on the western end of Tradition Parkway.
In addition to clearing and leveling, workers had to build four stormwater-management ponds. The 121,000-square-foot state veterans nursing home has to be able to handle major hurricanes. The state veterans department builds the facilities to shelter residents in place during disasters to minimize trauma.
Work on so-called vertical construction started around November. Much of that was preparing the infrastructure, such as water pipes.
A new executive director is taking over at the Florida Department of Veteran Affairs as work on the Copas home progresses. On Thursday, Jan. 24, the Florida Cabinet unanimously confirmed Gov. Ron DeSantis’ pick to lead the department – Daniel “Danny” Burgess Jr. The Florida Senate will also have a confirmation process when it is in session.
Burgess was elected to the Florida House in 2014. He twice won re-election, representing the Pasco County area. The 32-year-old is a captain in the Army Reserve, and also served as a city council member and mayor in Zephyrhills.
Murray said Burgess came into the job leading the veterans department already familiar with the Ardie R. Copas State Veterans’ Nursing Home, because of his work in the Florida Legislature.
“We briefed him (on progress) … to get him up to speed,” Murray said.
