LOUISVILLE, Ky. — In April 2010, the Louisville VA Medical Center was renamed the Robley Rex VA Medical Center after World War I veteran Robley Rex. After years of serving Kentucky veterans, the facility is now receiving an upgrade.

The $840 million contract was awarded to Walsh Turner Joint Venture II, a Chicago-based company to construct the new hospital which will replace the Robley Rex VA Medical Center.

The 910,115-square-foot center will include 104 beds, a 42,205-square-foot central utility plant, roadways, sidewalks and parking structures, a hot topic for some veterans. 

“In fact, I can remember riding around the parking lot waiting for someone to pull out so I can pull in. We won't have that problem there. It’s 2,600 parkings spaces built in a parking garage connected to the hospital,” Jeremy Harrell, CEO of the Veteran’s Club Inc., said.

Sherice Kral, an army veteran who served as a helicopter mechanic and crew chief, has been using the Robley Rex VA Medical Center for the past three years for various treatments.

Within her military career, Kral said she has experienced broken feet, punches to the jaw and is now awaiting surgery for two hip replacements.

“Half the time I'm using a cane or in a wheelchair and then I have to park blocks away, which sucks, but with a bigger hospital also comes the ability for more patients, and so what's to say the parking will be just as busy at that higher level,” Kral said.

The project has been a controversial debate for a few years. The City of Crossgate, which sits next to the new medical site, sued in 2018 to halt construction, mentioning concerns about the environment and the impact on traffic. 

“Nobody likes to be in traffic and that's my concern. It's going to be congested, It's going to be difficult to get in and out unless they reconstruct the traffic pattern. So I just want to be able to have easy access to my VA hospital,” Maryse King, Army veteran, said.

In March of 2021, a U.S. district court judge dismissed the lawsuit and groundbreaking for the new Louisville VA Medical Center is set to begin this fall.

“It's a VA hospital. It's providing treatment for those 1% out there who were willing to give their life for our way of life here. So when you get upset and you get angry, and the traffic is too much or 'I'm 10 minutes late,' just know that there are people willing to lay down their life for you to go wherever you're going that day,” Harrell said.

The construction of the new Louisville VA Medical Center is anticipated to be complete in 2025 at 4906 Brownsboro Road.