GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (WOOD) — The discovery of wetlands forced a redesign of the upgraded Grand Rapids Home for Veterans.
The Michigan Veterans Affairs Agency hosted a meeting Thursday to provide an update on how they're dealing with the wrench in their plans. To avoid building on the wetlands, they're shifting the placement of one of the housing units, referred to as neighborhoods, north.
"We're hoping that they will see some advantages," TowerPinkster landscape architect Craig Newhouse said of the changes. "We were able to get rid of an elevator entirely. So we had the building originally set on two different levels and so one of the neighborhoods had to take an elevator to get down to the community center. Now it's all flat on one elevation, which is the same grade as the existing building."
The changes shouldn't affect the construction timeline. The new $50 million home, which will include four connected housing units and centralized community space, should be done by late 2020.
The current vets home has 550 beds. The new home will have 128 rooms.