Denver ? The Veterans Affairs Department has awarded the first major contract for a new veterans hospital in the Denver area.

The VA said this week the $22.5 million contract was awarded to a partnership of Kiewit Corp. and Turner Construction Co. to renovate an existing building into a clinic and demolish others to make way for the hospital.

The 200-bed, $800 million hospital will be in the Denver suburb of Aurora. It’s expected to be fully open in 2014.

It will serve veterans from Colorado, Kansas, Nebraska and Wyoming. It replaces a 59-year-old facility in southeast Denver.

The Kiewit and Turner partnership has offices in the Denver suburb of Englewood. It was previously awarded a $1.3 million contract for pre-construction work that includes helping with designs, schedules, engineering and cost control.