A 60-bed skilled nursing facility for aging veterans continues to take shape at the edge of the Kentucky Transpark, with its completion expected in just over six months.

Local and state leaders, several veterans themselves, celebrated the progress Friday after nearly two years of construction.

Speakers included Sen. Mike Wilson, R-Bowling Green, Rep. Michael Meredith, R-Oakland, Bowling Green Mayor Todd Alcott, County Judge-Executive Doug Gorman and Brian Mefford, chairman of the Inter-Modal Transportation Authority overseeing the Transpark.

Several remarked that Meredith spearheaded state-level calls for the facility for years, acting as “quarterback” in Frankfort for nearly a decade. Meredith said it was an even longer time coming, with figures like Judge-Executive Mike Buchanon calling for the facility as early as the 1990s.

“This project took a lot of help and it was the entire delegation and everybody who has served over the last 12 to 14 years in the General Assembly from this area, not just Warren County but all of southcentral Kentucky,” Meredith said. “Folks like Kevin Jackson, Robert Duvall, Jody Richards, Martha Jane King, Wilson Stone, Patti Minter, the list goes on and on.”

The 80,000 square-foot facility broke ground in November 2022 with an overall construction cost of roughly $53 million. It is expected to bring around 120 new jobs to the area and primarily serve 24,000 veterans across 17 nearby counties.

Meredith said the facility is slated for completion in December and will hopefully begin operations by January or February 2025. Resident applications will open in late summer for those seeking care.

Kentucky legislators pledged $28 million in this year’s session to bring the project over the finish line. It will be the fifth facility of its kind in the state, alongside the Carl M. Brashear Veterans Center in Radcliff, the Eastern Kentucky Center in Hazard, the Western Kentucky Center in Hanson and the Thomson-Hood Center in Wilmore.

Meredith said inflation required them to scale back from a planned 90 beds during planning, but added the current design makes possible a future expansion and he is hopeful they can justify additional funding to legislators once they see operations in action.

The facility will provide community style accommodations with private rooms and common spaces for residents. It sits on a 25-acre plot donated by the ITA which oversees the Transpark.

Mark Bowman, Executive Director of the Kentucky Department of Veterans Affairs, was not in attendance but stated in a release that the organization is “thrilled” by the facility’s progress.

“This facility is not just a building; it is a commitment to honor and serve our veterans who have given so much,” Bowman stated. “Every step forward in this project brings us closer to providing our veterans with the care and respect they richly deserve.”

Alcott, a veteran of the U.S. Air Force, said the project is another reminder of the city’s commitment to the “mission” of serving veterans across the community and region.

He said he dislikes the term “nursing home” — he’d rather call it a “golden years home.”

“Coming home, seeing my hometown, my state of Kentucky honor those sacrifices, honoring this facility, is a humbling experience,” Alcott said. “… in the next few months when we open that, it’s going to be another humbling experience.”