FLORENCE, SC – On Thursday, Florence County Council approved $1.4 million dollars, under the second penny sales tax, to start construction a new Veterans Affairs Administration building.
The building will go up next to the Florence National Cemetery.
“This project has been thought of for a long time. It’s something that the county has been wanting to do for a very long time,” said Florence County VA Officer Randy Godbold.
Tall grass and trees are what fill this empty lot on East National Cemetery Rd.
Two years ago the Veterans Affairs Administration building moved across the street from the county complex in downtown.
“We were in the court house on the 7th floor. As you know a lot of veterans are disabled. It was very difficult to get into the courthouse,” Godbold mentioned.
However, with the construction of the new judicial center there and the financial support backing from county council, it will now have a new address.
“It means to veterans that basically you’re going to have a one stop place,” stated Godbold.
It will also assist in some of the funeral arrangements, we are also going to use it for our veterans meetings, the VA offices are going to be in there and plus it’s going to be a place for information later in the future,” he added.
Godbold says there are over 13,000 veterans alone in Florence County.
A groundbreaking will be held here in the next couple of months and he expects this building to be and up running by this time next year.
