It's a big day for local veterans even though they officially get recognized Wednesday. Ground is broken on a new VA clinic in Peoria Tuesday.

David Barker can't wait to walk into Peoria's new VA clinic. The injured Iraq War Veteran from El Paso is tired of missing time with his family to travel two hours to Danville for therapy.

"That's huge for me because of my injuries I have enormous amount of scar tissue. I almost lost my arm and so I require continued therapy and will for the rest of my life," Barker says.

He'll soon be able to get that therapy in Peoria. That's just one of a number of new services the larger VA clinic will be able to offer when it opens in the middle of 2011.

"I just hope when we get the new clinic we don't have to go Indianapolis to get our eyes fixed or cataracts or things like that," Local Veteran Ron Umdenstock says.

The health of the current clinic in downtown Peoria came into question over the summer. That's when it was shut down for several weeks due to a number of problems including mold.

"It's really not keeping up to the standards we expect for our veterans and the respect they deserve for the service they've given our country," Congressman Aaron Schock, (R) Peoria, says.

Schock says the new 37,000 square foot, 5800 square feet larger than the downtown VA, will be the most advanced and comprehensive outpatient clinic in the country. It's expected to serve almost 10-thousand veterans.

Tawnia Guistolise works as a technician at the current 30-year-old clinic while also getting treated as a veteran. At 42-years-old, she's excited about the new services for women like mammograms.

"Now, it's double or triple the amount of what it once was. A lot of the veterans coming back are female. And, there are services they do need," Guistolise tells News 25.

And, a new clinic is one way to salute that service. The VA will lease the building for $1.6-million annually for the next 20 years.

Congressman Schock says he's also working on ways for the VA to outsource certain services to area hospitals.