FORT SNELLING — After decades of neglect, five old buildings at Fort Snelling will be renovated into apartments for homeless veterans and their families.

The buildings saw service from the Spanish-American War to World War II, and are going to be rehabbed.

The plans call for 58 affordable apartments for homeless veterans and their families. Construction is expected to start this summer and finish by summer 2014.

The Fort Snelling plan is part of a larger effort by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs to end veteran homelessness and reduce its inventory of vacant and underutilized properties. The VA plans to provide more than 3,000 units of permanent and transitional housing for veterans at 25 VA Medical Center campuses nationwide, and another 1,000 units are pending or underway.