The American Legion is outgrowing its space. 

To handle the organization’s twice weekly free food distribution volunteers are having to store supplies in trailers and other storage places behind the 5,000 square foot building on Clark Street. 

And with the organization moving away from a focus of “a place for old veterans to drink,” to a community center with services for veterans and others in the community, Legion leadership wants the space to provide even more than it already does. 

A 12-member building committee has come up with a quite big solution: a 28,000-square-foot Patriot Community Center that would feature a large space to seat up to 700 that can be divided, rooms for a number of veterans and community organizations, space for light rehab for veterans after VA care ends, space for even more stores of food to be able to act as a regional Food Bank of Wyoming hub, a temporary emergency management center in case of a disaster, and more. 

The plan also includes outdoor space to be utilized, from the memorial wall placement to a pavilion and space for RVs to cater to vets traveling and in need of assistance. The Legion is looking at a potential site for the new building on Gateway Circle, across from the veteran’s memorial set up by former Powell High School students, but at this point the Legion has not secured land other than having a “right of first refusal” on the land.

“We’re excited about the new building because we’ve really outgrown this one,” Post 26 Commander Steve Olsen said. “You can see in the back we’ve got commodities stored out here in the event room, and those are for Saturday. In order to meet the needs of our community, not just our veteran’s community, but the overall community, we’ve just got to have more space, and then we can better provide for the entire basin.”

A long planning process

Post 26 Past Commander and American Legion Department of Wyoming Commander Russell Stafford said a group of Legion members began talking a few years ago about what to do about the 5,000-square-foot building from 1953 they currently occupy, as a 99-year lease on the city property the Legion and Homesteader Museum sit on ends in 2033. 

He said there was discussion as to whether they try to “massively renovate” the building or look at a new one. 

“So we started looking at what our options are and everything like that, and it just progressed into what we’re doing now, the Patriot Community Center,” Stafford said. “I’m excited about the expansion of the building, because it doesn’t only include the American Legion and the Veterans of Foreign Wars. It also will have space for other service organizations such as the Disabled American vets, and the Vietnam Veterans of America. We’ve already talked to the Veterans Navigation Network out of Billings, and they’re excited to come and join us.”

A big reason for that excitement is all the office space planned for the building, allowing several veterans and other nonprofit community organizations space, such as potentially after school tutoring services, a need they’ve identified. 

Another huge help for the organization in the planned building would be the massive expansion in space to take food pantry operations to another level. 

Stafford said first lady Jennie Gordon’s food initiative organization has been supportive of the plan, as the Legion has already benefitted from the initiative through some small grants for food donations in the past. 

Food donations are a big part of the Legion’s community outreach mission, as there are now regularly scheduled food giveaways each week, and people come not just from the area, but from a number of locations in Big Horn and even Washakie counties. 

Stafford said the Legion’s food commodities supervisor Patti Paulsen has already started working on more grants to expand the existing food offering. An expansion could even result in the center being a regional hub for the Food Bank of Wyoming, as the building would have plenty of storage for dry goods, walk-in freezer and refrigerator space and prep space thanks to two commercial kitchens. 

Use of the building for events, as it would be one of the largest convention spaces around, can be had at a discount for Patriot Club members, a new program launched by the Legion that by coincidence has the same name as was decided for the new building. 

“We don’t want to be known as the Old Man’s drinking club, swapping war stories at the bar anymore, and we know that our younger vets don’t want that either,” Stafford said. “So we will have a club area, but we’re going to focus more on activities that you can do in those clubs with family members. So you’ll have a gaming area for gaming, you know, board games and stuff like that. You’ll have the pool table, you’ll have the dart boards, but it’ll be focused on allowing families to intermingle together. 

“And of course, yes, we’ll still have the safe space for veterans to come and drink with other veterans.”

Next steps

The building will be funded by grants and donations, of which the Legion has already received one large $40,000 donation. 

Some of the money from the Legion’s established fundraisers will go to the building, although fundraising for other specific purposes will remain. 

There are also several grants from large organizations and the federal government for community organizations and veterans’ organizations which the Legion is looking into as preliminary estimates of the building are between $11 and $17 million. 

The Legion leadership wants the community to be involved in the process. To that end, they’ve spent the last six months or so putting together a new website, patriotcommunitycenter.org, to keep people updated on the progress.