PELL CITY — If you build it, the federal funds will come — at least that is one proposal being considered by county officials involving the construction of the new Veterans Home.

During U.S. Senator Richard Shelby’s town hall meeting Thursday at the City Hall in Pell City, St. Clair County Commission Chairman Stan Batemon said the commission is considering financing the federal portion of the construction cost for the new Veterans Home.

“We could get the Veterans Home started before we get federal funds,” he said.

Batemon said the Commission would pay off the loan once federal funds are available for the project.

State officials said state funding is in place for the construction of the new Veterans Home in Pell City, but state officials say they are waiting for the federal match before actual construction of the new Veterans Home begins.

“We can’t get started (on the construction) until we have both state and federal funds in place,” Clyde Marsh, commissioner of the Alabama Department of Veterans Affairs, told members of the Pell City Rotary Club in January.

He said the Alabama Department of Veterans Affairs has $17.5 million available for the Veterans Home project in Pell City, which is a 35-percent match of the Federal VA Construction Grant applied for by the Alabama VA office. The federal grant would pay 65-percent of the $50 million project, or about $32.5 million.

Marsh said last month the state VA Office is hoping federal funds will become available in 2011.

Shelby said Thursday he did not know if federal funds were already in next fiscal year’s budget for the Veterans Home project.

“If it is, I will support it,” he said.

Batemon said Friday officials are still trying to determine if federal grant money can be used to pay back a local construction loan for a state and federal project.

“Right now the banks have plenty of money,” he said. “We could get a low-interest rate loan for a year.”

The Alabama Department of Veterans Affairs announced in 2008, it would build the new Veterans Home in Pell City, but have yet to receive federal grant money for the project.

Officials say the new Veterans Home will create about 300 new jobs.

The new Veterans Home site is located on 27 acres, across from the new St. Vincent’s St. Clair Hospital site, north of Interstate 20 and near the Jefferson State Community College campus.

VA officials say the new Veterans Home is a cutting edge home care facility with plenty of green space for veterans.

“The design of the home is a revolutionary concept that will offer veterans the comforts of home,” Marsh said.

Officials say the new Veterans Home will have a town center with a beauty/barber shop, coffee shop, chapel and a main dinning hall for residents. The town center will also have a “Hall of Honor” dedicated to the men and women who have served our nation.

Officials say the new facility will have 254 private rooms and bathrooms, and 174 rooms are regular skilled nursing beds. Eighty rooms are assisted living residences.