By Terri Kelly Barta
Although continuous rains in Lisbon have caused delays in the construction of the new North Dakota Veterans Home by more than two weeks, the $31 million project has made progress. “The exterior of the skilled unit and the central core is nearly complete,” said Mark Johnson, administrator, North Dakota Veterans Home.
The plan is to have the Home completely enclosed before winter, but pooling water caused by days of rain has kept the concrete floors from being poured in the south section of  the project. However, the floors have been poured in all other sections of the building and steel walls and some steel trusses have been set in place. The steel walls were constructed during the summer of 2009 and left in stacks ready to place. Quite a large crew comes in and places those walls and trusses so they go up fast, according to Johnson.
“If the weather cooperates for a few days, the trusses should all be up by next week,” said Johnson.
Meanwhile, a reduced crew works on other sections of the project. On Monday, Oct. 19, a crew of cement brick layers was working on the Center Core of the building whose entrance faces west. The Center Core contains the front entrance to the Home and houses the administrative and support offices. The three neighborhoods extend out in three different directions from the core. Each neighborhood will be divided into four households for the residents. This design provides a more home-like atmosphere for the facility.
Another part of the project is almost complete. For the geothermal heating system, 738 wells needed to be dug. With over 700 wells dug, that part of the project is expected to be completed by the end of October, according to Johnson.
Although the new Home was originally scheduled to be completed in October of 2010, it is likely that it will be the first part of 2011 before it is ready to move into, according to Johnson.
The groundbreaking for the facility was held on June 7, 2008. However, due to an increase in costs since the 2007 legislature had allocated roughly  $25 million for the project, it was back to the 2009 Legislature to ask for approximately $6 million more to complete the project. Geothermal heating was added to the project and that needed to be funded as well. Both the increase in funding and the geothermal heating part of the project were voted in during the 2009 legislative session.
Work began at the site in June of 2009. Spring flooding in the area had delayed the project’s start by a couple of months. Residents had to be temporarily evacuated then moved back to the facility when the flooding subsided. Yet, despite the challenges that have come with this project, it continues to move forward. The residents enjoy checking out the site to see how their new home is progressing.
“A number of guys come out to the site and watch,” said Johnson.

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