Residents start moving out of Fayetteville veterans home
More than 30 residents at the State Veterans Home in Fayetteville have transitioned to new facilities after officials announced in November that the home would close.
The North Carolina Department of Military and Veterans Affairs, which oversees the home, said in a news release Thursday that 38% of the Fayetteville home’s 85 veterans have moved.
Officials are now saying topography and water intrusion along with "significant repair needs and structural deficiencies," are the reason for the home's upcoming closure at 214 Cochran Ave.
“There is no immediate solution or long-term fix,” Thursday's news release stated. “Given the structural deficiencies, the high cost of repairs, and natural topography issues, the Department decided to close and replace the facility.”
What are the home's issues?
Department officials did not confirm or deny The Fayetteville’s Observer’s questions on Nov. 22 asking whether mold or any other toxins led to the move.
WRAL and other local media have reported family members of residents say they think mold is the reason for the move.
Rep. Charles Smith, one of Cumberland County's representatives, told the Observer last month that based on his conversations with the DMVA’s legislative liaison, he speculated that the land, which was originally owned by the federal government and then given to the state, may not be “as desirable” and that it sounded like there might be issues with the facility’s foundation.
Smith said he did not think there were health risks involved with the closure.
In Thursday’s news release, an information sheet stated that the Fayetteville home, which opened in 1993, was the first to open in North Carolina and is located in an area that topographically causes "water intrusion to the building and ponding water on the site.”
According to the news release, repairing the home would cost more than $20 million compared to the $27 million it cost the state and the Veterans Administration to build North Carolina's newest veterans home in Kernersville which opened earlier this year.
What state secretary says
The release said that a day after the information was distributed to residents of the State Veteran's Home, retired Marine Lt. Gen. Walter E. Gaskin, secretary of the North Carolina Department of Military and Veteran Affairs, met with residents and their families Nov. 21 to discuss the decision and answer any questions.
“With this facility approaching an untenable state, we are being proactive rather than reactive,” Gaskin said in Thursday’s release. “This decision was made with great consideration for the well-being of the residents, and their families.”
Will a state veterans home stay in Fayetteville?
Officials said that the department “remains committed to serving the Fayetteville community with a State Veteran Home and plans to build a new facility in the area.”
The news release said that the newer facilities will have single occupancy rooms compared to the current home, which has double occupancy rooms.
Meanwhile, the home's 85 residents will continue to receive the necessary collaborative treatment from the Fayetteville Veterans Administration Hospital and the community and were given the choice to move to another state veterans home or any facility of their choice with relocation assistance provided, the news release stated.
The Fayetteville home will remain open until all the residents transition to new homes by Feb. 1.
Residents will be welcomed back to the new Fayetteville facility once it’s built, the information stated.
Staff writer Rachael Riley can be reached at rriley@fayobserver.com or 910-486-3528.
This article originally appeared on The Fayetteville Observer: Fayetteville veterans home closing: here's why
