Collier County’s 120-bed veterans home and day care facility has now been approved to receive $74.24 million in federal funding.
That amount represents 65% of the cost; the county is responsible for paying the remainder.
“We got a letter from the federal Department of Veterans Affairs confirming that the funding for our veterans nursing home project has been officially approved,” Board of County Commissioners Chair Burt Saunders said in an Aug. 15 interview. He plans to put it on the agenda for discussion at the Aug. 26 commission meeting.
The nursing home, on 22 acres of the former Golden Gate Golf Course, has been years in the making, with Saunders championing it from the start.
In 2018, Collier County voters approved a 1-cent infrastructure sales surtax to fund various projects, including the nursing home. Collier set aside $40 million in sales surtax funds, which also will pay for construction of a veterans adult day-care center and outpatient-therapy facility; federal funds can’t fund those construction costs but can pay for those services. The county donated part of the golf course property, at Golden Gate Parkway and Collier Boulevard, for the site after paying $29.1 million for the 167-acre golf course property.
Florida has nine state veterans homes, but eight aren’t operating at full capacity because it’s difficult to find staff. Veterans officials believe there are more than 31,000 Collier veterans over age 65, in addition to many younger veterans who could use the services.
The double project is the first of its kind in the nation. Nashville-based Orcutt Winslow and its affiliate, HHCP Design International, will be the designers, joining a county team that includes planning firm Q. Grady Minor & Associates and Davidson Engineering. The facility will be similar to another Orcott Winslow and HHCP designed in Las Vegas that features gardens, gazebos, walkways, libraries and other amenities.
Collier hopes to break ground in 2026 and open the facility three years later.
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