HOLYOKE — Every politician who came to Holyoke on Thursday, and there was a gaggle of them, acknowledged two things.
First, the new, world-class Veterans Home is a towering accomplishment: a leviathan of a building offering a plethora of on-site services and an eight-story, 234-bed home for those who have given their lives in service to the country.
But, they all noted, the facility is also a monument to tragedy and an inadequate attempt to mend it. That tragedy took place when 76 veterans died from March to June 2020 amid crowded living conditions and other failures during the home’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Alice Lowell of Warren has mourned her husband, Charles, since his death on April 15, 2020. Charles shared a room with two other men, Lowell said. The three had no sink in their room. He died from COVID-19.
As she toured the new facility following Thursday’s ribbon-cutting ceremony, Lowell welcomed the improvements.
“I’m thrilled,” she said, as tears welled up.
Lowell toured the new facility alongside Gov. Maura Healey. In one of the new rooms, Lowell commented to Healey, “It’s so beautiful. There’s not three people in the room.”
She also was pleased to see that veterans will have private bathrooms attached to their rooms, unlike her husband’s room.
For Susan Kenney, Lowell’s daughter who pushed her mother’s wheelchair as they toured, the day was also marked by a more recent disappointment. She said she and other families affected by the pandemic deaths were not initially invited to the ceremony.
“I don’t know if it was intentional,” Kenney said.
But she questioned how the omission could have happened, especially since the new building was constructed following the deaths that made national news.
“That’s why this home is here,” she said. “There is no doubt that is why this home is here.”
In the days leading up to the ceremony, Kenney reached out to state Sen. John Velis, D-Westfield, who contacted the Healey administration about the omission, which he confirmed. Velis emphatically told Kenney he would not attend the ribbon-cutting ceremony if families, including hers, weren’t invited.
During a press scrum, the Gazette posed the question to Healey, who responded that the families were invited as soon as officials identified the “mix-up.”
“That was addressed immediately,” she said. “I certainly wanted to make sure, as did our veterans agency, that families were included.”
The ceremony took place on the first floor of the sprawling facility. Natural light poured in through floor-to-ceiling windows, offering views of the mountain ranges surrounding the facility, which sits atop Cherry Hill.
The new facility at 110 Cherry St. dwarfs the current 120,000-square-foot building, which is located next door and was built in 1949. The old building will be demolished to make way for parking.
The first residents will move in on Nov. 10. Following inspections by the VA, more residents will make the place home.
Speakers included Healey, U.S. Sen. Ed Markey, U.S. Rep. Richard Neal, Velis and Holyoke Mayor Joshua Garcia. Also in attendance were many other local mayors and state legislators, including Northampton Mayor Gina-Louise Sciarra, state Reps. Lindsay Sabadosa, D-Northampton, Homar Gomez, D-Easthampton, and Mindy Domb, D-Amherst.
Michael Lazo, the home’s executive director, described the opening as a milestone in the state’s continued investment in veterans’ services.
The facility, he said, was designed to meet veterans’ evolving needs while providing a safe, welcoming environment in which residents receive the dignity and respect they deserve.
The building will also allow veterans to receive a broader range of services, including rehabilitation and specialized memory care, reducing the need to seek treatments elsewhere.
Veterans expressed their excitement about the new facility and said they are ready to make the move.
“It’s a great thing,” said Francis Horn, who served in Germany from 1963 to 1965. “I watched construction every day. They were never idle.”
Roger Cote, a Vietnam War veteran from 1967-68, said the place is beautiful. He is excited to have his own bathroom and flat-screen TV. However, he is sad that there will be fewer places to smoke on the property and called the smoking limitations a “big controversy.”
“I’d be doing worse things than smoking,” he said. “I feel like it should be an individual choice.”
Juan Vazquez, who provides recreational therapy for all the residents, including bingo and opportunities to be active, said, “I’m just ready for something different, something new. I’ll see what it brings.”
Throughout construction, he said, residents would watch the progress being made, even offering critiques about how the framing or other aspects could be done better.
“They always enjoyed watching,” Vazquez said.
Healey said the new facility had been a goal of hers since she was attorney general, and lauded the facility as an example of care veterans deserve.
“This undertaking was born out of a terrible tragedy,” Healey said. “As I look out at family members who have lost loved ones here during the COVID-19 pandemic, I know this is a very bittersweet occasion. I just want you to know that the commonwealth holds your loved ones dear, and always will.”
She said the presence of the uncles, fathers, sisters and other relatives who were lost will forever “permeate” the building’s hallways and rooms.
Neal recalled the grief that families endured. He had visited the grounds during those difficult months in 2020, working to monitor conditions and secure federal support for a replacement building.
“We can never adequately address the issues that happened here, what occurred in those very difficult months,” Neal said. “But we can also point out to the future.”
Colton Andrews, president of the Western Massachusetts Building Trades Unions, said the project gave union workers an opportunity to serve veterans through their trades.
“This is about much more than opening a new building,” Andrews said. “It is about keeping a promise to the men and women who wore our nation’s uniform that their service and sacrifice will always be remembered.”
The project generated more than one million hours of labor, said Andrews, crediting workers from across western Massachusetts.
Garcia also praised the project, saying it demonstrated what government could accomplish when officials and community partners worked toward a shared goal.
“Our veterans deserve better, and government had a responsibility to deliver,” Garcia said. “And I can say with confidence that today they delivered.”
The project received $263 million in federal funding, according to Markey, who said the investment would help provide veterans with a modern, climate-resilient facility.
He quoted Neal about the importance of funding to accomplish projects.
“A vision without funding is a hallucination,” Markey said.
Officials lauded the project for being ahead of schedule and under budget.
When the Veterans Home at Holyoke was originally put out to bid in 2023, it was estimated to be a $485 million project with a completion date of fall 2027, according to Veterans Home officials.
As of Thursday’s ribbon-cutting ceremony, the current project budget is $465 million and includes a federal reimbursement of $263.5 million.
