Montevideo veterans home under construction

A traditional groundbreaking photography opportunity was held Aug. 23, following a ceremony and presentations at the groundbreaking for the 72-bed veterans nursing home in Montevideo. Tom Cherveny / West Central Tribune

Montevideo veterans nursing home under construction

West Central Tribune

MONTEVIDEO — After breaking ground in August, construction is underway on a $52.8 million, 72-bed state veterans nursing home facility in Montevideo.

Located on a 13.5-acre site on the city’s east side, the 95,000-square-foot skilled nursing facility has been years in the planning stages and is one of three new state veterans nursing homes being built in Minnesota. The Montevideo home is the largest of the three, in part because of a unique community center that was funded in part from local contributions.

Knutson Construction will oversee the project, which is estimated to take about 18 months to complete.

The Department of Veterans Affairs will begin recruiting for the nearly 140 part- and full-time jobs the facility will create.

Staff will be state employees and paid on state wage scales, ranging from more than $15 an hour for certified nursing assistants and housekeeping and up to $130,000 annually for the top administrative position.

The need for a nursing home to serve veterans in this region was identified by a group of local residents in 2007. It took 14 years of work by the community to win state and federal support. The state Legislature approved $12.4 million in funding in 2018, and the federal government allocated $34.3 million this year. Montevideo raised $5 million in private funds for the project.

Footings for the facility are expected to be in place in January and the building’s exterior erected by May 2022. The facility should be substantially completed in May 2023 and turned over to the Minnesota Department of Veterans Affairs in July 2023.

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