Veterans Home improvement

Handwritten signs line the hallways of the Cape Girardeau Veterans Home.

"Don't worry, be happy."

"We'll get through this, we're not New Orleans."

"Families go through tough times together."

Each serves as a reminder for residents and workers that ongoing construction work is only temporarily.

A year from now, the $6 million renovation of the Veterans Home is expected to be finished. In the meantime, life goes on - without a kitchen, dining room and some residents' rooms right now.

"Change is difficult for anyone, but on a whole, the residents have been excited to watch the new things go up," said Lori Hayden, a social worker at the Veterans Home. "Every day, I see someone watching the construction. Many of them can relate to that type of work."

The renovation is literally floor to ceiling, with new seamless flooring installed in residents' rooms and new ceiling tiles throughout the facility.

New paint and a heating and air-conditioning system are also part of the plan, but the major changes involve an expanded kitchen and main dining area. There will also be a new dining/activities space for the special care unit.

Ken Lipps, who handles public relations for the local home, said the impetus behind the renovations is the kitchen area.

"Our kitchen was the smallest of all homes in Missouri," said Lipps.

Right now, as the kitchen is being renovated, the cooking staff is working from a trailer and serving meals in each of the resident wings.

Activities have also been moved to the resident wings for now. As renovations take place in each of those wings, residents will be temporarily shifted around to new living quarters.

That's the only part of the work that concerns most residents, including Mike Stafford and Elman Gibbs.

Gibbs said he actually enjoys eating in his wing more than in the dining room. Neither of them is looking forward to moving though.

"But I guess that just means the homecoming will be good," said Stafford. "I'm anxious for it all to be done. It was good before, but now it's going to be great."

cmiller@semissourian.com

335-6611, extension 128