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Corning Veterans Hall in desperate need of repairs

Corning Observer - 5/20/2021

May 13—While walking down Solano Street one day, local resident, Jerry Lequia, stopped and took a close look at the Corning Veterans Hall, its flagpole and parking lot. He was dismayed at what he saw.

"The flagpole is in terrible shape, there are rotten window sills, peeling plaster, floors and ceiling needing repairs, and much more," Lequia said. "There is no excuse for a historic building to be in this kind of shape. It's disgraceful to our community and our veterans."

He took his concerns to the Corning City Council during public comment. Attending the meeting was Tehama County Supervisor John Leach, a military veteran, who is also concerned over the condition of the structure.

On April 29 a group of concerned citizens, Leach, Lequia, county Supervisor Candy Carlson (herself a veteran), city officials, Tehama County building maintenance officials and local veterans had an unofficial meeting at the Hall to discuss the problem and identify the needed repairs.

Veterans Hall Board member Dean Blankenship said the board is completely aware of the condition of the building, however, the problem is finding the funding to make the critical repairs.

"We have limited funding and have had to set priorities," he said. "On top of that, COVID-19 really hurt our funding sources as we haven't been able to rent the Hall for more than a year."

Carlson recognized there has had to be a lot of deferred maintenance.

"It is sad," she added, "this is a beautiful building."

She and Leach attended the gathering with the hopes of taking the problem to the Board of Supervisors.

"This gathering is very preliminary, a first step and nothing official," Carlson said. "This is just a group of concerned citizens talking about an issue we all care about."

Corning Fire Chief Tom Tomlinson said he was a bit frustrated that since the Veterans Hall is under Tehama County jurisdiction, the county hasn't been more proactive in its upkeep.

County building maintenance officials said they had learned a lot from the meeting and would be looking to move forward on identifying and ramping up maintenance efforts.

However, finding the funds to make those repairs on the county level was also a budgetary problem.

According to the county's 2020-21 budget documents, funding for the Corning Veterans Memorial Hall comes from the county's general budget for an annual total of $62,315. Of that amount, the total for services and supplies is $48,946 with $2,000 of that going for maintenance of structure/improvements/grounds. Other funds go for such things as salary and wages, communications, household expenses, insurance, maintenance of equipment, office expenses, flag replacement, utilities, special departmental expenses, and a big chunk at $24,000 to professional/special services.

The Hall is home to monthly and weekly veterans organization meetings, including the county's Veterans Service Office every Tuesday from 9-11 a.m. These meetings are for answering questions, advising, and educating individuals and groups on what benefits are available from federal, state, county, and local resources for our veterans. They can assist eligible persons in filing the necessary claims. And representing individuals and presenting claims in VA hearings.

Until the pandemic hit, the Hall hosted Bingo every Wednesday night the Veterans Memorial Hall holds Bingo night.

For more information call Inez Clay at the Veterans Memorial Hall, 824-5957.

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(c)2021 the Corning Observer (Corning, Calif.)

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