AUGUSTA – State officials announced Thursday that the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs has given preliminary approval to build a $3.5 million, 30-bed veterans home in Washington County.

Although final approval is months away, state officials expressed confidence Thursday and said a ground-breaking ceremony could take place as soon as the fall of 2002.

Gov. Angus King said the Washington County project now moves ahead to the grant review process where it is expected to face no opposition. Final approval is anticipated sometime in the spring of 2002.

“The veterans in Washington County have been looking for this for an awful long time,” said King. “In addition to this being good news for the veterans, it’s also good news for Washington County since it will create about 100 jobs in an area of the state that has always had very difficult times economically. These 100 jobs are a significant development, given the relatively small size of the communities.”

Washington County officials and residents heralded the announcement upon hearing the news later Thursday.

“This will make it more convenient for people who have served our country,” said state Sen. Kevin Shorey, R-Calais.

For years, state and local representatives have attempted to locate a veterans facility Down East. Former state Democrat Sen. Harry Vose said in a telephone interview Thursday that the effort began in 1992. He said once facilities were built in Bangor and South Paris, the board of trustees for the Maine Veterans Homes promised that a veterans residential facility would be built in Washington County.

Vose also credited U.S. Rep. John Baldacci, who had been in the state Senate, for helping move the project along. “I am tickled to death … true to their word, the board of trustees of the veterans homes and Congressman John Baldacci have followed through exactly with what they promised to do and God love them for it,” Vose said.

King said the actual location of the facility would be determined by the board of trustees for the Maine Veterans Homes. State officials said the home would focus on veterans in the early stages of dementia and would serve as a residential extended-care facility. The veterans home also will require support services from medical and meal-catering facilities, increasing the likelihood that either Machias or Calais would be selected by the board as the ultimate location for the home.

Sixty-five percent of the home’s $3.5 million capital cost will be paid by the veterans affairs department. King said the remaining 35 percent would be raised through revenue bonds issued by the veterans homes board, eliminating the need for funding through state taxes.

The governor said Washington County’s 5,000 veterans and their families no longer would have to rely on long trips to visit relatives who otherwise would be placed in veterans facilities located in Bangor, Gardiner, Caribou, South Paris and Scarborough. The decision to build a sixth veterans home is unrelated to efforts aimed at creating a new veterans health clinic in Lincoln at Penobscot Valley Hospital. Currently, a moratorium on proposed new veterans health clinics remains in place throughout New England.

Because Machias is the county seat, Town Manager Scott Harriman argued Friday, that the proposed 30-bed veterans home for Washington County should be built there.

“We certainly hope it’s built here. Certainly we have more services to offer that kind of facility in Machias. We have a hospital. We are the service center for this side of the county. We also have people who have worked on that project for some time, so we would certainly welcome it,” Harriman said.

But interim Calais City Manager Jim Porter disagreed. He said he believed the facility should be built in the county’s largest city. “We think we are centrally located to the people who need the service, and the economy of Calais certainly needs it,” he said. Porter said the city also had a hospital and veterans clinic nearby. He also addressed the economic problems the city has faced.

During the past few years, city officials have watched as businesses left the area. “We have the highest unemployment rate in the Calais area,” he said. Porter said he planned to contact the Governor’s Office to try to persuade him to locate the facility here.

One veteran whose group, the Passamaquoddy Memorial Post 11299, has spent the past five years lobbying for a facility to be built in Washington County, said he believed the home should be located in Machias. Sabattis Mitchell Sr. said he welcomed the governor’s announcement.

A veteran of three wars – World War II and the Korean and Vietnam wars – Mitchell said, “We have been fighting for this for quite a while.” He said the veterans have had numerous meetings with Maine’s congressional delegation.

Although Shorey did not state where he believed the facility should be located, he did say he was pleased the federal government had decided to place such a facility in the county.

“Washington County is an area which is home to many veterans, and I think that having a facility here will make it easier for the veterans who live here to make use of it. It also will provide economic opportunities for the area. Washington County has one of the highest unemployment rates in the state, and I think this will help to serve to mitigate that somewhat,” he said.