Nearly a year after the state shut down the North Carolina Veterans Home in Fayetteville, the head of the agency that ordered its closure has recommended the facility be renovated and eventually reopened to local veterans needing round-the-clock care.
The North Carolina Department of Military and Veterans Affairs (DMVA) announced the decision in a press release Tuesday. The department described DMVA Secretary Grier Martin’s recommendation as the most cost-effective and quickest way to bring a state veteran home back to Fayetteville. The DMVA arrived at the conclusion after meeting with various stakeholders, including state legislators, veterans and their families, community partners and the State Construction Office.
“North Carolina is committed to making sure its veterans have the support they need and access to high-quality facilities to live lives of purpose after they have sacrificed for our country,” Martin said in the announcement. “This recommendation to renovate the Fayetteville State Veterans Home is the best option for both North Carolina’s veterans and taxpayers and will make sure our veterans continue receiving the care they deserve.”
The state veterans home in Fayetteville closed its doors in February 2024, following the DMVA’s announcement just two months earlier that it would permanently shut down the home, and the 85 aging veterans living there, including many with disabilities and dementia, would have a matter of weeks to find new accommodations. In the wake of the closure, CityView reported that family members struggled to find suitable new homes for their elderly relatives. Several residents suffered declining health in the days leading up to and following the move—some died after moving out. Employees were left with just a few pay periods to find new work. State lawmakers said they were blindsided.
At the time the state veterans home closed, there were a plethora of health and safety hazards with the building: widespread mold, problems with the roof, poor air quality, inadequate stormwater drainage, a faulty HVAC system, insufficient fire safety measures, questionable plumbing, and holes in the walls and ceiling.
The DMVA said when it made the decision public that the building would close —which was only 25 years old— the facility had “significant repair needs and structural deficiencies” for which there was “no immediate solution or long-term fix.” It did not initially disclose the health and safety threats that had been exacerbated by years of neglect and deferred maintenance. The agency said building a new home would cost less than renovating the old one.
Fourteen months later, the DMVA has reached the opposite conclusion.
“This recommendation was made after evaluating other options to completely rebuild a new home and relocate the home to another location,” Tuesday’s announcement stated. “Estimates show the renovation plan would cost significantly less than other options and would be the quickest way to ensure continued care for North Carolina’s veterans.”
The DMVA has not yet indicated how much renovations would cost or where funding would come from. The timeline for repairs has also not yet been released. This is a developing story, and CityView will provide updates as new information becomes available.
Contact Evey Weisblat at eweisblat@cityviewnc.com or 216-527-3608. This story was made possible by donations from readers like you to CityView News Fund, a 501(c)(3) charitable organization committed to an informed democracy in Fayetteville and Cumberland County.
No private entity would tear down a 25 year-old commercial structure for these types of problems. Building new has become prohibitively expensive.
Replacing a roof at the 25-year mark is not unheard of, depending on the system and how it’s been maintained. The storm drainage issue could be fixed with better grading around the building and improvements to the storm drainage system. A retaining wall could be needed on the uphill side of the site. Once the site is draining well and the building is weather-tight, the mold could be remediated.
Or you could tear the building down and start over.