The Minnesota Department of Veterans Affairs (MDVA) is entrusted to maintain nearly six dozen buildings totaling more than 1.4 million square feet, spread over eight State Veterans Homes and four State Veterans Cemeteries. These campuses range in age from just a few months to more than 130 years old and include myriad buildings.

The facilities at the Minneapolis and Hastings Veterans Homes in particular include some historic properties that are beyond their useful lives. (The Minneapolis Veterans Home campus dates back to 1888 and originally served soldiers from the Civil War!) Maintaining and updating these buildings is an ongoing effort with more than 100 projects currently identified on our asset preservation inventory.

MDVA is thankful for the 2023 Minnesota Legislature’s commitment to rebuild the Hastings Veterans Home campus with an allocation of $77.7 million to cover the State’s share of this project.

We were honored to host Governor Tim Walz on April 3 when he visited the Minneapolis Veterans Home campus to highlight the need for building upgrades and renovations at that location. The Governor focused his visit on Building 16 that houses one location of our Domiciliary Program where board and care are provided for up to 50 Veteran Residents. (The Domiciliary Program also operates from the Hastings Veterans Home.)

MDVA is seeking $16 million in capital investment to remodel Building 16, originally constructed in 1970. A remodel pre-design is currently in process. This funding would enable the agency to move to the next stages of design and construction. The HVAC system has suffered periodic failures and through the predesign discovery process, many other building systems and components have been identified as past their useful lives and in need of replacement. A remodel would provide updated facilities for treatment and program space to better meet the needs of our Residents as well as adopting sustainable green technologies to help save energy.

In addition, MDVA is requesting $12.8 million for department-wide asset preservation to address some of our highest priority projects. This investment would repair and replace a variety of Veterans Homes and Cemeteries building system components that serve to maintain a safe, efficient and manageable environment for Residents, staff and the public. These projects would include roofs, chillers, boilers, tuck-pointing, elevator repairs, window and door replacement, mechanical and electrical replacements, structural and water-damage repairs, and major communication system replacements.

We are meeting regularly with the Senate and House Veterans Committees to advocate for these investments. We look forward to sharing the outcome of this year’s Legislative session in the coming months.

Remember that MDVA is here to serve Veterans and their families from all eras. If you need information or support on any Veteran issue, please visit our website, contact your County Veterans Service Officer, or contact LinkVet at 1-888-LinkVet.

And a reminder: we are hiring for hundreds of roles at the three new Veterans Homes and the new Veterans Cemetery. Please consider joining our team or encouraging others to do so. Job openings are posted at mn.gov/careers.

Thank YOU for your service!