City to Buy Land for Veterans Home Site : Services: Lancaster agency authorizes purchase of 38 acres for $1.9 million. State commission backs facility for the area.
LANCASTER — The city of Lancaster will spend $1.9 million for 38 acres of land that is expected to eventually be the site of a state veterans home.
Sitting as the Redevelopment Agency, the Lancaster City Council without discussion unanimously agreed Monday to purchase the property at Avenue I and 30th Street West from Chung-Yun Chang.
Lancaster was chosen last year by a state commission as the next California site for a veterans home. The California Department of Veterans Affairs, Governor’s Commission on a Southern California Veterans Home, agreed that the home would be built after a similar, long-awaited facility is completed in Barstow.
As part of the deal, Lancaster must provide the property for the home. The Redevelopment Agency agreed to buy the land for about 10% more than its appraised value.
Funding for the construction of a $30-million, 400-bed veterans home in Lancaster has yet to be secured, said Thomas Langley, assistant director for the Department of Veterans Affairs.
The U. S. Department of Veterans Affairs will pay 65% of the construction costs, Langley said, noting that he is preparing to submit the funding request. Federal funding for the Lancaster home may not be approved until the 1996 fiscal year.
“I can’t forecast a (time line),†Langley said. “It’s up to the federal government to determine if money is available in this (upcoming) fiscal year or the next.â€
Assemblyman William J. (Pete) Knight (R-Palmdale), along with eight other legislators, recently introduced a bill that would authorize the sale of revenue bonds to provide the state’s 35% share of construction funds.
Langley said Lancaster was selected as the site for the next veterans home in part because of its proximity to the veterans hospital in the San Fernando Valley. In addition, it will also be able to serve the 750,000 veterans who reside in Los Angeles County.
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