This preliminary shows how the exterior of the planned Allen County Veterans Services garage could look once completed. The structure is set to be built at the corner of East Wayne and North Union streets.
LIMA — The vision of what will become a county veterans service garage in downtown Lima is coming together as Allen County commissioners discussed the upcoming project Tuesday.
The garage would be built at the 138 E. Wayne St. lot, located at the corner of East Wayne and North Union streets. The idea behind the garage is to have a space to store vans used to transport veterans. Part of Tuesday’s discussion included going over a potential exterior rendering as well as a potential floor plan for the new building.
“It’s an exciting point right now where we’ve got some preliminary plans as it relates to our veterans garage,” Commissioner Cory Noonan said. “We’ve been working with the design group and then also working with the entities that are going to be using it.”
The building previously on that site was demolished as part of a state program aimed at eliminating blighted properties. The county worked with the county auditor and the land bank program to obtain the property for this purpose.
“It’s an important structure,” Noonan said. “It’s going to be a nice place for our heroes to meet when they do need a ride, getting them out of the weather and providing a restroom as they provide this service of transportation.”
All of the current designs are still in the preliminary stage and are subject to change. Still, Noonan is hopeful that they will be able to break ground on this building soon.
“If I had any control, it would be before the weather got bad, but we’ll see,” he said. “We’re following the steps to get it done.”
