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Bexar County Commissioners voted on Tuesday to move forward with construction of a state veterans home in San Antonio.
There are ten state veterans homes across Texas, but none in San Antonio, despite the big military presence in the city.
The closest state home for veterans, with 160 beds, is in Floresville.
Republican Precinct 3 County Commissioner Grant Moody is a lieutenant colonel in the Marine Reserves and a former Marine fighter pilot in Iraq.
He said the large veteran population in the Alamo City needs its own home for veterans. In fact, Bexar County has the largest population of veterans in Texas and the fourth largest in the nation.
"We are Military City USA, about 170,000 veterans in Bexar County. This is a big opportunity to serve them in a big way," Moody said.
The county's military and veterans services department told commissioners more than half of local veterans are over the age of 55. And they're aging into nursing homes at the rate of 400 a month.
Donated county land near Loop 1604 and Cagnon Road in Far West Bexar County would be the favored site for the home.
It's still in the very early planning stages with an estimated cost up to $50 million but paid for by the state and federal government.
