POST FALLS - Post Falls' effort to have a North Idaho veterans home built has marched on to a major milestone - a $1.1 million, 9.8-acre land donation courtesy of the Jacklin family.

The Jacklin family, represented by brothers Don, Doyle and Duane, have agreed to donate the site on the east side of their Riverbend Commerce Park bordered by Pleasant View Road, Lochsa Street, Clearwater Loop and St. Joe Avenue.

"It's shovel-ready," said Tom Stoeser, president of Riverbend Commerce Park, referring to the infrastructure that is already in place for construction to start.

Residential areas are located across Pleasant View from the site.

Stoeser said the Jacklins, who are all veterans, have also donated land in the park to area colleges and universities in the past.

"They're generous people and very supportive of economic development to create jobs," Stoeser said.

The closest state veterans home is in Lewiston, with other sites in Boise and Pocatello. There are an estimated 18,000 veterans in Kootenai County alone. If constructed, the facility would create about 50 new jobs, said Post Falls Mayor Ron Jacobson.

"With this generous commitment to donate a site from the members of the Jacklin family, we have achieved one of those major requirements (for a veterans home)," Jacobson said. "We understand that this process will be lengthy, but we hope to be able to show the VA (Veterans Administration) that the citizens of North Idaho truly support this effort.

"Our area has consistently supported our veterans and there is certainly wide acknowledgement of the need for a facility of this type to serve our disabled and aging veterans."

Even with the land donation and proponents' steadfast efforts for several years to have Idaho's fourth veterans home built in Post Falls, there's still not a guarantee that the 95-bed home will be built.

David Brasuell, administrator for the Idaho Division of Veterans Services, will present findings of a state-funded feasibility study completed in November to the Legislature's Joint Finance and Appropriations Committee (JFAC) on Thursday. The study concludes that the place where there's the greatest need for the next Idaho veterans home is in the Panhandle.

"The immediate need is for a home in North Idaho," Brasuell said. "There's been a big influx of veterans who have moved into that area during the past 20 years."

Legislative support will be needed as the state is required to fund 35 percent of the cost to construct the home as a match to the VA's 65 percent.

"There should be a sufficient amount of funds available in a veterans recognition fund to meet the match," Brasuell said.

The total cost for recently-built similar facilities, including both for the building and land, has been about $20 million.

The local and state support would then be part of an application to the VA, which prioritizes veterans home projects across the country.

Proponents of the next Idaho veterans home hope it will be constructed in the next three to five years if the hurdles are cleared.

Brasuell called the land donation a "very big step" in the process.

"It's another great indication of the commitment to the veterans of North Idaho," he said, adding the site also needs to be reviewed and deemed appropriate by the VA.

Former Post Falls Mayor Clay Larkin, who has worked on the project from the start and is a veteran, said the land donation is the third leg of the three-legged stool needed for the application to the feds.

"We'll have the need, legislative support and land donation for when the application package goes in," Larkin said. "That should move us up on the ladder, but patience will be a virtue. It's such a blessing to have the Jacklins come on board to donate the land for such a worthy cause."

Len Crosby, another veteran who has worked on the effort, said two well-attended meetings on the home in Post Falls last year are an indication of the community's desire to have a facility built in our back yard.

"The community's outpouring support for this facility has been overwhelming," Crosby said. "We've done what's needed to have it built here, but there's still a ways to go to get to the end of the trail."