VA Medical Center Seeks Public Comment for Campus Renovations

Memorandum of Agreement

The Bob Stump VA Medical Center is seeking public comment for campus renovation projects at Fort Whipple to aid homeless veterans, Wednesday, April 24, 2024.

Public comment is for a Memorandum of Agreement for two projects including Enhanced Use Lease.  

This first project includes full renovation of six of the existing historic officer’s quarters, with a focus on retaining the historical elements of the buildings, to provide temporary housing for homeless Veterans.  

The second project includes new construction of a four story-apartment building and a small parking lot just north of the existing campus baseball field.  

"The building will not be overly intrusive to the visual aspects of the overall Fort Whipple Historic District," said Katherine Ferguson, the VA  Archaeologist and Project Integrator. "It will be located in a part of campus that is relatively removed from the rest of the historical portion of the campus and is situated within view of the recently built campus warehouse and historic Building 70 which was constructed in 1922. The proposed new construction will be designed to be similar in look, feel, and design to the rest of the historical campus." 

Mitigation measures include monitoring for archaeological deposits during below ground work and ensuring that all design, renovation, and construction follows Secretary of the Interior standards.  

If any interested parties would like to comment on this effort, please reach out to Ferguson via email at Katherine.ferguson3@va.gov.  

The comment period will be open for a total of two weeks from the date of this posting (April 24, 2024).

Draft Environmental Assessment

Background

The U.S. Department of Veteran Affairs (VA) is proposing the development of supportive housing for homeless and at-risk of homeless Veterans, and their families at the Northern Arizona VA Health Care System (NAVAHCS) in Prescott, Arizona (Proposed Action). The Proposed Action requires the VA to enter into an Enhanced Use Lease (EUL) agreement with a private entity to finance, design, construct, operate and maintain the proposed veteran housing development at the Prescott Campus. 

Proposed Action

The Proposed Action will be completed at two separate noncontiguous parcels located within the western quadrant of the NAVAHCS Prescott Campus:

• EUL Parcel No. 1 is an approximate 2-acre vacant property for a proposed new 4-story supportive housing development with 80 residential units. 
• EUL Parcel No. 2 consists of six existing residential structures on approximately 1.69-acres of developed land along Officers Row.  The existing structures are identified as Historic Building Nos. 5, 6, 7, 8, 9 and 10 (referred to as the Former Officers Quarter’s). 

Actions Completed

Pursuant to Section102(2) (c) of the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) of 1969 as implemented by the Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ) regulations (40 CFR Parts 1500-1508), the VA gives notice that a Draft Environmental Assessment (EA) has been prepared for the above described Proposed Action.

Conclusions

The Draft EA identifies, analyzes and documents the potential physical, environmental, cultural, and economic impacts associated with the VA’s Proposed Action. The Draft EA also evaluates the potential direct, indirect and cumulative impacts resulting from the Proposed Action. The proposed action and the no action alternative are considered.

Draft Environmental Assessment Location

The public is advised that it has 30 days to respond from the date of this publication with comments. The public comment period runs from April 24, 2024, to May 24, 2024.

For more information about the project, please contact Gary Johnson (VA Chief of Facilities Management Services) by email at gary.johnson@va.gov.

Comments on the Draft EA shall be submitted to Kelli Emery (VA Portfolio Manager), VA Office of Asset Enterprise Management, by email at Kelli.Emery@va.gov.