VA Considering Six Bids For Clinic At Old Putnam County Fairgrounds

Six developers have submitted bids to build a new VA Clinic on the old Putnam County Fairgrounds property.

Putnam County Mayor Randy Porter said he expects the Veterans Administration to select the winning bidder by April or May. The VA could choose the fairgrounds property or other land in Cookeville.

“That’s one of the top properties I think that there is in the city that they’re looking at,” Porter said. “I know there are two or three others that they took a tour of when they came to Cookeville back a few months ago, but that just kind of blows us away that there would be six that would go for that piece of property, so I think it says volumes about that piece of property.”

Porter said the federal government does not want to own the seven to ten-acre property or the facility. Developers would instead lease the facility back to the VA after building it.

Porter said the new facility would be a major improvement for veterans in the Upper Cumberland. Porter said the 50,000-square-foot clinic would finally give veterans a local option for treatment.

“We’re all about our veterans,” Porter said. “It’s going to serve not only Cookeville and Putnam County, it’s going to serve the whole Upper Cumberland. You’ve got folks that are driving to Murfreesboro or Nashville now, or they’re having to wait sometimes weeks or months to get an appointment. With this expansion here, with this new facility, it’s going to make a big difference with the veterans and the healthcare that they’re provided.”

Porter said the VA will decide during the bid process which parcel of property is chosen along with which bid is selected. Porter said the developers’ options go through May 6.

E2L, the company that holds the option on the entire Fairgrounds property, was one of the six that submitted a bid. E2L paid to extend their option to May 6. The company has two more 120-day extensions that they can pay to exercise.

Porter said E2L is working on a master plan with a large engineering firm that includes the clinic at the corner of Walnut Avenue and Veterans Drive.