Jewett City American Legion post gets $3.8 million for veterans home

The state is supporting a plan by a American Legion post to transform parts of the post home building into supportive housing for homeless veterans.

The LaFlamme-Kusek Post No. 15 and its American Legion Housing Inc. affiliate will receive more than $3.8 million from the Connecticut Housing Finance Authority. It will qualify for an additional $500,000 from the state’s Department of Economic and Community Development if the project meets all federal requirements.

The post is looking to spend more than $5 million to convert the upper floors of its building at 7 S. Main St. into up to 18 apartments. The ground floor of the building would remain as the post’s meeting hall.

Bill Czmyr, a post member and president of the housing group, was pleased Friday.

“I found out when I opened my mail this morning,” he said. “This means the project can go forward.”

Czmyr said the legion hopes to start construction in August, with an 11-month timeline for completion.

“For all 18, unless there are some obstacles,” he said. “Because if you move a wall, you never really know what you might find.”

In a statement released by her office, Gov. M. Jodi Rell called the project an important opportunity.

“It meets our goals of helping all of Connecticut’s citizens who need housing — especially veterans who have sacrificed so much for others — and it is a responsible reuse of an existing asset,” Rell said.

U.S. Rep. Joe Courtney, D-2nd District, who last year secured $200,000 for the project, hailed the efforts of Czmyr and the legion in a statement issued by his office Friday.

“They never relented in their mission to secure critical resources for their fellow veterans,” Courtney said. “Everyone involved has good reason to be proud.”