WASHINGTON — The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) has purchased 313 acres in southern Palm Beach County near Boca Raton to build a national cemetery to serve south Florida’s veterans.
Secretary of Veterans Affairs Anthony J. Principi announced the landmark event today at a ceremony marking VA’s signing of the sales contract with the land owner’s representative. The federal government will pay $11,250,000.
“For many years, South Florida has been on VA’s priority list for building a much needed national cemetery to serve nearly 438,000 veterans,” Principi said. “We’re glad we now have the right property to convert this goal to reality in a relatively short time.”
He said VA expects to begin interments in two years, even before the cemetery is fully built.
The site is west of U.S. Highway 441 and state road 7, within five miles of Florida’s Turnpike and Interstate 95 interchanges. VA officials described it being in a “no-growth” zone compatible with adjacent land uses and low residential density.
Florida’s congressional delegation, local, state and federal officials, plus leaders of the state’s veterans service organizations were invited to participate in the ceremony.
VA’s 2002 budget included funds to begin designing the cemetery. VA expects to award a contract for master planning and design later this year. President Bush’s fiscal year 2003 budget requested $23.3 million for VA to build the cemetery. Construction of its permanent buildings and roadways and 120,000 burial sites should be completed in 2005.
Two VA studies since 1987 identified south Florida as an area with a large number of veterans not served by a national or state veterans cemetery.
Thirteen potential sites in Florida were evaluated in 2000. Ten were eliminated from consideration because they were not large enough, were too far from population centers or highway access, or were no longer available.
The three remaining sites — all in Palm Beach County — met most of VA’s criteria in an environmental assessment, which included a detailed study of each site and of the effects of a new cemetery upon the community. VA announced last December that it preferred the property it has now selected, citing its high number of positive characteristics, including good access to highways, greatest capacity for casketed gravesites and mature vegetation.
Presently, VA’s Florida national cemeteries with space remaining for full-casket burials are in the central part of the state at Bushnell and in the panhandle at Pensacola. The national cemetery at Bay Pines accommodates cremation burials, and the St. Augustine National Cemetery buries only family members of veterans already interred.
Nationwide, VA operates 120 national cemeteries. All veterans with discharges other than dishonorable, their spouses and dependent children are eligible for burial in VA national cemeteries. Information on VA burial benefits can be obtained from national cemetery offices, from a VA web site on the Internet at http://www.cem.va.gov, at VA regional offices or toll-free at 1-800-827-1000.
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