It was just announced yesterday, Friday, January 6, 2017,  that the Veterans Hospital located in Hot Springs, SD will be closing over the next three to five years. This will severely negatively impact the small town that relies on the VA Hospital as a source for employment and treatment for our Veterans.  There was an original plan to conduct construction on the VA to expand their services and beds up to 160 in 2016 and now with the closing, this valuable and much-needed resource will be removed.  Save the VA Hospital in Hot Springs, SD and don't let the VA be closed by the Veterans Administration.  This historic building has served veterans for over 100 years and Jennifer Buddenberg, National Trust and Historic Preservation representative, spoke out on behalf of her agency against the closure of the VA in the Hot Springs location.  She further pointed out to the VA Admin, committee back in November of 2015 that there has been no effort to address the usage of the facility or preservation if it closes, the economic impact of the closure on the town, or that their arguments (VA Admin) for closure have been substantiated.  The U.S. Department of Veteran Affairs argued that the building is not up to code for the ADA which Ms. Buddenberg pointed out that it can be brought up to code just like many other historic facilities have been renovated in other states.  Check out the website to read the transcripts of that public meeting online at http://www.blackhills.va.gov/documents/App-E-Vol-10-Alliance-Chadron-HotSprings-Transcript.pdf  I will also note that the VA Black Hills.va.gov website has not been updated since November 2016 and has not announced on the site the final decision to begin the closure process.