Montana Veterans Home Groundbreaking Held After Long Effort

BUTTE, Mont. (AP) — A groundbreaking has been held for a veterans home that was proposed 26 years ago.

The Montana Standard reports the ceremony Tuesday opened work on the planned Southwest Montana Veterans Home in Butte.

Officials say the $20 million home for 60 veterans could be completed by the fall of 2020.

U.S. Sen. Jon Tester, state Sen. Jon Sesso, state Rep. Jim Keane, and former state legislator Bob Pavlovich were on hand after providing years of support.

Pavlovich was the first to introduce a bill to build the home during the 1993 Montana Legislature.

Sesso secured $5 million for the home a decade ago, but the project did not proceed until Tester helped arrange $8 million in federal funding last year and the state Legislature approved $5 million this year.

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Information from: The Montana Standard, http://www.mtstandard.com