New Patton House, Veterans Service Building Nearing Year End Completion

The new Patton House Doll Museum and Veterans facility in Putnam County should be completed by the end of the year.

That is according to Mayor Randy Porter. Porter said painting and flooring are about to begin for the some 6,200 square foot building.

“It’s going to be a nice facility, and I think the public will enjoy it, especially the Veterans Museum,” Porter said. “It will be nice for folks to come and see, and for the veterans that need to see a service officer for benefits and help, it will be nice for that too.”

Porter said the building located along Highway 70 will allow the county to relocate the veterans museum out of the County Clerk’s Office. Porter said on the top floor, the county archivist and veteran service officers will have new offices.

“Probably three to four times as much space as they had before, so we will be able to have a lot more display cases and artifacts,” Porter said. “With the archivists and veterans services, they will have new offices and a conference room. We’ll have a third of the top floor for storage for archivist records.”

The original building off Highway 70 was destroyed by the March 2020 tornado. Porter said the county still plans to create a memorial park outside of the new facility. Porter said that work would begin after the building is completed.

“That’s going to put us into the winter time,” Porter said. “We’re planning to use some of the dirt from the new fairgrounds location, so we will bring some of it up and create a nice level space. Most of the park construction will take place next spring.”

Porter said the county’s maintenance department has contributed to about 30 percent of the total work. Porter said the decision has lead to a big saving for county instead of contracting out the entire project.

The county commission in this fiscal year budget approved a new receptionist position for veterans services. Porter said the county will soon start looking for candidates.