Veterans to serve up hot dogs at Friday holiday event to celebrate building’s grand opening
John F. Russell/Steamboat Pilot & Today
Twelve months ago, the leadership at The Veterans Center started renovations at 924 Lincoln Avenue, creating a place for veterans to heal, to gather and to learn about benefits available to them.
On Friday, veterans in Steamboat Springs are planning to gather prior to the Fourth of July parade and then take part in the event. At 1 p.m., members will return to the Veterans Center and begin serving hot dogs to hungry passersby.
“Everybody in town is invited,” Bruce Hannon, vice president and board director for The Veterans Center, said of the Center’s grand opening event on Friday. “Inside is classy looking. There are beautiful beams, and we have exposed rock walls, and we have the new plaster walls. It just looks terrific.”
The project to renovate the building, which has long been home to the Veterans of Foreign Wars and the American Legion, began in December 2022 with the start of fundraising efforts that were followed by the year-long renovation that started following last year’s Fourth of July parade.
The veterans are inviting the public to stop by The Veterans Center at 1 p.m. Friday to grab a hot dog and tour the freshly refurbished space that has a long-standing place in the Steamboat Springs community. Hannon said that the opening of the new Veterans Center facility also marks a change in terms of broadening the location’s purpose for veterans in Steamboat Springs.
“The American Legion and the VFW has about 35 active members … we really want the other 1,200 veterans in Routt County to come and see it’s for them,” Hannon said. “This isn’t a bar. It isn’t a place to swill beer. It’s a place to heal and get your benefits and get the services that are provided throughout the county, which no one knows about.”
Hannon said The Veterans Center will be open from 10 a.m.-2 p.m. Monday through Friday. In addition to serving as the place that veterans from across Routt County come to learn about available benefits and services, additional offerings will include fitness and yoga classes, monthly country western dance nights and other special events.
John F. Russell is the business reporter at the Steamboat Pilot & Today. To reach him, call 970-871-4209, email jrussell@SteamboatPilot.com or follow him on Twitter @Framp1966.
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