Utah veterans home now offers outdoor refuge

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Veterans and their spouses living at the Salt Lake City Veterans Home now have a new way to be in the great outdoors.

A path above Red Butte Creek, a man-made water feature and a gazebo have been completed on the south side of the home, which is on the campus of the Veterans Affairs George E. Wahlen Medical Center.

The ribbon was being cut for the new outdoor area on Tuesday afternoon.

The nursing home won $25,000 in Home Depot gift cards via a Facebook contest last November, and that paid for materials, said Jeff Hanson, state officer for the nursing home.

The Building Owners and Managers Association of Utah and its members donated volunteer labor, for a combined project value of around $60,000, Hanson said.

Winning the contest last November put the nursing home in the running for a bigger prize, and supporters cast enough votes via Facebook last spring to earn the Utah home second place, or $150,000 more from Home Depot.

That money will serve as seed money for a $1 million project to remodel the nursing home to make it more home-like. The remainder of the money is expected via a federal grant, and construction could begin as early as next year, Hanson said.

kmoulton@sltrib.com