Milwaukee Soldier’s Home

Milwaukee Soldier’s Home, a National Historic Landmark, received a prestigious preservation award in 2021. VA partnered with multiple organizations to help rehabilitate parts of this historic campus into housing for homeless veterans.

The $44M public-private partnership rehabilitated six long-vacant buildings on the National Historic Landmark campus which were constructed between 1869-1922. The partnership first rehabilitated Old Main (B2), the most prominent and recognizable building on campus, followed by the Administration Building (B1), the Catholic Chaplain’s Quarters (B14) and 3 duplexes (B18, B19 and B62).

Despite being one of the most intact soldier’s homes in the United States, as of 2010 the Milwaukee Soldiers Home was in poor condition, as many of the buildings sat vacant for several decades. A hole in the roof of Old Main threatened its structural stability leading to the nomination to the National Trust’s 11 most endangered historic places list in 2011.

This project, more than a decade in the making, is a reminder that historic preservation not only protects the past but can also serve the future. Preservation efforts combined with strategic partnerships tackled the issue of homelessness among Veteran communities while simultaneously engaging in community building and the safeguard of historic properties. The Milwaukee Soldiers Home is a success, but more importantly it serves as a successful model which can be replicated across the country to continue serving and protecting America’s Veterans and cultural heritage simultaneously.

National Memorial Cemtery of the Pacific

National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific, widely known as the “Punchbowl,” lies in Puowaina Crater, an extinct volcano overlooking Honolulu, Hawaii. The National Cemetery contains the remains of over 33,000 U.S. war dead and memorializes almost 29,000 more. Puowaina is also a place of great cultural significance to Native Hawaiians, associated with the burial of royalty and the punishment of wrongdoers. It is listed in the National Register of Historic Places. VA must expand the Cemetery to accommodate warriors lost in recent conflicts and will do so in a way that is sensitive to Native Hawaiian cultural concerns. VA consulted intensively with Native Hawaiian organizations and other interests to design new and upgraded facilities that respect the environment and the cultural and spiritual values that Native Hawaiians attach to Puowaina.

West LA VAMC

Serving veterans since 1888, West Los Angeles Veterans Affairs Medical Center (VAMC), established as the Pacific Branch of the National Home for Disabled Volunteer Soldiers (NHDVS) program, covers more than 400 acres along Wilshire Boulevard. Initially constructed to provide medical, surgical, and domiciliary care for disabled Union veterans, the campus has evolved dramatically over the years alongside veteran medical care.

Architect Stanford White designed the Pacific Branch featuring wood buildings in the Shingle style. Some original buildings exist today, but most were replaced throughout the 1920s-1940s when the campus underwent a tremendous transformation as part of the Department of Veterans Affairs’ (VA) Second Generation building campaign. Triggered in response to the increased veteran populations, the campaign changed the Branch into a planned campus featuring Mission Revival style architecture with connecting landscapes and open spaces. Building 209, constructed in 1945, served as a part of a neuropsychiatric hospital. The Mission Revival-style building was constructed of reinforced concrete finished in smooth stucco with a terra cotta tile roof.

Building 209 would eventually be supplanted by VA’s Third Generation construction and ultimately the current main hospital constructed in the 1970s. This transition in construction is evident across the VAMC campus and reflects the changes in veteran care from the early NHDVS program to the outpatient model seen today. West Los Angeles VAMC was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2014, with the historic district representing an excellent, intact example of a Second-Generation veterans hospital built upon the campus of the first NHDVS branch on the west coast.

Building 209

In 2011, the VAMC proposed to rehabilitate Building 209, at the time vacant, to provide
long-term supportive residential housing for homeless veterans. The project would include seismic upgrades and a major renovation of the existing building including the reconfiguration of the interior into residential living units with support spaces, new mechanical, electrical, and life safety systems, and landscaping. The project also sought to achieve LEED gold certification in support of VA’s larger sustainability initiatives.

Recognizing that Building 209 was a contributing resource, the VAMC engaged an architecture firm and qualified preservation contractor to assist in the Section 106 consultation and design of the proposed project. Drawing on the contractors’ expertise, the VAMC consulted with the California State Historic Preservation Officer (SHPO) on the effects of the proposed project on the historic property. While the rehabilitation would retain most of the building’s contributing features by adhering to the Secretary of the Interior’s Standards (Standards), the original metal windows would be replaced, causing an adverse effect on the property.

Opened in 2015, Building 209 provides housing and healing space for homeless veterans. The award-winning rehabilitation project demonstrates the benefits of a federal agency engaging qualified expertise to assist in both design and consultation. The result was an exemplary preservation project that supports VA’s mission of caring for the nation’s veterans. Now equipped with a proven example of sustainable reuse of historic properties, the VAMC hopes to implement future renovations utilizing similar structures on the West Los Angeles and other VAMC campuses.