Vendor forums have been scheduled as the State of Illinois moves closer to rebuilding the Veterans’ Home in Quincy.
The Illinois Capitol Development Board and the Illinois Department of Veterans’ Affairs have announced times and locations for the forums, which come in advance of the official Request for Proposal for the construction of a new nursing home and Domiciliary in November.
The forums are held to allow potential bidders to gather more information about the project.
Forums were held last Friday at SIU Edwardsville and one in Bridgeview, Illinois, with forums scheduled for those locations again this week on Wednesday.
KHQA 7 in Quincy reached out to the Veterans Affairs Department in Springfield last Friday to inquire why forums were being held in Southern Illinois, and not in the area the project is centered in.
KHQA later reported being informed that a forum is planned to be held in Quincy, but a date has not yet been determined.
Funds for the project were included in the Rebuild Illinois Capitol Bill, with $230 million being earmarked for the project.
Some facilities on the grounds of the Veterans’ Home have already been or are in the process of being being demolished to make way for the new construction, following the outbreaks of Legionnaires disease at the home in 2015.
the Department of Veterans’ Affairs says the project aims to provide state of the art care for Illinois veterans.