Sycamore Renamed to Honor Medal of Honor Recipient
Illinois Governor Bruce Rauner was in Quincy Friday morning to officially announce that the newest addition to the Illinois Veterans’ Home has been renamed.
In June, the state purchased the former Sycamore Nursing Home to house up to 150 veterans’ home residents.
In a ceremony Friday, Rauner announced that the facility is being named Lester Hammond Hall, in honor of a Korean War veteran and Medal of Honor recipient who was raised in Quincy and is buried in Sunset Cemetery on the grounds of the veterans home.
Rauner said this is the first step in the replacement of the old veterans’ home with a new state-of-the-art facility.
The push to build a new veterans’ home comes after numerous reports of Legionnaire’s Disease at the home in the last three years.