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Vacant Buildings on VA Illiana Health Care System Campus Coming Down

By Steve Brandy Feb 5, 2025 | 10:40 AM

 THE FOLLOWING IS A NEWS-GAZETTE ARTICLE BY JENNIFER BAILEY

 

ABOVE: Demolition of old buildings are underway on VA Illiana’s campus in Danville

 

DANVILLE — The Veterans Affairs Illiana Health Care System campus in Danville will have a new look later this year.

Unused buildings that have sat empty for decades on the Danville campus are being torn down.

Two “old mansions,” as some have called the buildings where doctors once lived and worked, reportedly have already been torn down, and three more are planned for demolition.

VA officials said the changes are in line with “providing a safe and modern environment,” adding: “As part of a larger strategic plan to provide exceptional care to more veterans through various stages of life, vacant, unused administrative buildings’ removal allows for expansion of the Community Living Center.”

VA community living centers are nursing homes. But “unlike many nursing homes in the past, a Community Living Center resembles ‘home’ as much as possible,” officials said, with activities for all ages, family-friendly places for visiting and veterans allowed to decorate their rooms and have pets.

The VA marked 125 years in Danville in 2023. Today, the Illiana system provides comprehensive, physical, emotional, mental and spiritual care to more than 29,000 veterans, according to the VA.

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