TBO.com - TBO is Tampa Bay Online

Highlands Today

Commissioners OK Financing For New Veterans Services Building

ADVERTISEMENT

By JIM KONKOLY Highlands Today

Published: August 27, 2008

SEBRING - The space for the Highlands County Veterans Services building - which serves more than 1,000 veterans per month - will increase tenfold.

The county commissioners Tuesday approved financing to build a 3,200-square-foot building to replace the cramped 325 square feet of office space, which veterans services now has in the county health department building.

The new building will go on George Boulevard and have something the current operation doesn't - a conference room.

Joseph Dionne, county veterans services director, said the conference room will be equipped with a media projection screen for special programming. It also will be available as a meeting place for some of the county's 26 veterans organizations that have no place to meet.

The total cost for the new building is estimated at $817,000, with a federal grant covering $402,700 of the project.

Commissioner Barbara Stewart questioned why the cost of the building ballooned up from the initial estimates of less than $500,000 to more than $800,000.
Dionne said the building was planned to be larger than originally thought, at the suggestion of Rep. Tim Mahoney, who was instrumental in obtaining the federal grant.
County Administrator Michael Wright said bids should come in lower than the estimated cost. He also said the building will serve county residents who are veterans for 40 to 50 years, and so it makes sense to build a good building.
Dionne said the building will be bigger than originally planned for another reason: the emotional problems of some veterans who come to the veterans services office for help.

Some such veterans cannot go inside the current veterans office and have to be talked with and fill out forms outside the building, Dionne said. The reason, he said, is that they might have a hard time talking with people and filling out forms in the cramped indoor quarters.

With a bigger building, he said, the offices will be larger, more open, and there will be more and bigger windows that will let in more sunshine to give each room a bright feel, Dionne said. In such an environment, he said, some veterans who can't go inside the quarters of just 325 square feet now may feel welcome and at ease.
Highlands County Engineer Ramon Gavarrete said advertising for bids on the project might begin on Sunday.

Jim Konkoly can be reached at 863-386-5855 or e-mail jkonkoly@highlandstoday.com

Share this:

Loading Comments...

Email Print

ADVERTISEMENT