In the News

Work in Holyoke on a large-scale complex devoted to treating local veterans reached a major milestone ahead of Veterans Day.

For the past year, the sheer scope of the new Massachusetts Veterans Home at Holyoke has been coming into view.

Visible from I-91 and parts of the Pioneer Valley – the $483 million project has been taking shape, including the eight-story building’s frame going up in front of the facility it’s replacing.

Construction cranes have been a regular part of the skyline as it comes together, lifting steel beams into place as crews assemble the 350,000 gross-square-foot site.

Officials say the work is ahead of schedule – with a significant milestone celebrate Thursday.

Governor Maura Healey, along with hundreds of construction workers, veterans, their families and others were at the site for a topping off ceremony – with a steel beam adorned with the American flag raised and hoisted atop the structure.

“… and this is a new chapter, today – [this] world class facility,” Healey said before the raising. “Protecting, serving veterans the way they protected and served this country.”

Just over a year prior, Healey and others came for its groundbreaking – marking the start of work to replace the facility formerly known as the Soldiers' Home in Holyoke.

A site offering primary care physicians for veterans and 128 beds for long-term nursing care, among other services – it was the scene of at least 76 deaths during the pandemic in 2020. A lengthy investigation and $56 million settlement followed.

“We're only part of the way here, because the commitment that we made when we sent them off has to be honored when we bring them home, and it's that quality of life that they have in aged years at this facility,” said Congressman Richard Neal of the 1st district. “I can tell you this, that this facility made national headlines for the wrong reasons. Today, it's going to make national headlines because of all of you, for the right reasons.”

According to Commodore Builders and Walsh Brothers Inc., construction outfits overseeing the project, the new building will include 212 single occupancy bedrooms, 234 long-term care beds, a 30-bed “dedicated memory-care floor” and more.

Secretary of Veterans' Services Dr. Jon Santiago tells WAMC that construction should wrap around fall 2026. Veterans in the current building will be moved in to the new one in early 2027, with the old building, dating to 1952, being demolished soon afterwards.

“It’s on schedule, and that's really a testament to the work Commodore/Walsh is doing alongside our union partners here,” he said. “Listen, we care about this project. We care about our commitment to Western Mass. and that's why we're just hitting the milestones, and hopefully, it'll continue until the end of the project.”

Paula Marcotte, a neighbor of the project, was among those at Thursday’s ceremony. Her longtime family home was built beside the site in the mid-50s. Her Navy veteran mother and father raised their children there after World War II. 

It’s also near where Healey briefly parked at one point, leading to Marcotte and the governor talking about the facility and what it means.

“We've been through a lot with the Soldiers’ Home - it's always been my neighbor growing up, and now that I'm living here as a retired person with my husband, it's still my neighbor and I wouldn’t want to be here anywhere else,” she told WAMC. “We have the most beautiful view of the Pioneer Valley, it's outstanding. And this project has been a lot to us in that it's long overdue.”

Paula’s mother, Shirley, was a nurse, while her father, Richard, was stationed on a merchant marine ship - later torpedoed by a German U-Boat, leaving him at sea for three days before being rescued.

“The happy ending is that when he came back to the States, he was stationed for a time in San Francisco, which is where my mom was stationed,” she explains. “Both of them were actually 1940 high school graduates of Holyoke High, and they reconnected in San Francisco, fell in love, and it's kind of a love story.”

Richard Marcotte himself would use the outpatient clinic at the Soldiers Home for decades, Paula says, before dying at 99 in 2020 while living at the family house.

She says it was sad to watch the pandemic ravage the facility. Hampden and Hampshire State Senator John Veils agrees

While at the podium, the Democrat specifically called on the families of the veterans killed during the outbreak, as well as those who care for local veterans day in and day out.

“Trust me when I tell you this - that if it was not for your advocacy, if it was not for your stories, if it was not for your loved ones - I’m not sure we would be here today with this building,” he said. “I am eternally grateful for your service. I am eternally grateful for the staff at this facility who treats this not as a job … but as a calling.”