Enterprise veterans home named for Medal of Honor recipient

UPDATE: The Alabama State Board of Veterans Affairs voted unanimously to name the facility as the “Command Sergeant Major Bennie Adkins State Veterans Home”

Command Sgt. Maj. Bennie G. Adkins was a Medal of Honor winner during the Vietnam War. The Army has an in-depth profile of Adkins.

ENTERPRISE, Ala. (WTVY) - Enterprise and Alabama State Board of Veterans Affairs (SBVA) officials will have a press conference on Friday where the name of the new state Veterans Home will be announced and the first architectural drawings of the facility will be revealed.

WTVY will stream the press conference in the video player at the top of this story and also on Facebook.

The process began in 2018 when the state determined the need for a fifth state veterans home, and recommended placing it in the southeast part of the state.

The state DVA has homes in Alexander City, Huntsville, Bay Minette and Pell City. They provide nursing home level care and care for veterans with dementia and similar conditions.

There’s a waiting list for all four homes. The wait times vary from three months to 24 months, depending on the facility.

Enterprise was selected as the site of the new home in January of 2020.

Williams Blackstock Architects was selected to design the state-of-the-art facility that will feature approximately 175 beds and other amenities for providing long-term skilled care for Alabama veterans. The SBVA expects construction of the home to begin later this year with an opening date in 2023.

The location of the new home will be on 108 acres between US Hwy 84 and AL Hwy 167 that were donated to the facility.

The city is hoping to break ground on the site in early 2022.

The Alabama Department of Veterans Affairs is covering 35% of the cost with a federal grant taking care of the other 65%.

The new veterans home should open by 2023.

In January the SBVA began accepting proposed names for the new facility.

Copyright 2021 WTVY. All rights reserved.

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